Migrant is fatally shot in Texas
Agent opened fire during melee, hitting female victim in head, Border Patrol says.
Texas — A U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agent shot and killed a female migrant while patrolling the border town of Rio Bravo, Texas, late Wednesday afternoon, officials said.
The agent was responding to reports of activity in the town nearly 12 miles south of Laredo when he encountered a group of migrants who he said beat him with two-by-fours, according to a statement released by the Border Patrol.
During the melee that ensued, the agent fired and shot the female migrant in the head, the Border Patrol said. The agent gave the woman CPR, and paramedics responded, but she later died, the statement said. The incident is under review by the Texas Rangers and the FBI.
The Border Patrol did not identify the agent or the slain migrant. Three other migrants were taken into custody, it said.
Laredo activist Priscilla “Lagordiloca” Villarreal posted video from the scene on Facebook. The female witness filming can be heard on the video as an agent leads two detained men from an abandoned building past green-and-white Border Patrol vehicles.
“Why do you mistreat them?” the woman shouts in Spanish. “Why did you shoot the woman? You killed the woman!”
The woman walks up the street, closer to the scene of the shooting.
“They shot her in the head for running,” she says. “They killed her.”
A Texas Highway Patrol trooper approaches and can be heard on the video warning her, “Ma’am, you interEDINBURG, fere, you’re going to be arrested. They’re interviewing and they’re investigating.”
Another trooper can be seen behind him, stringing up yellow police tape.
As border enforcement has increased under President Trump, including the deployment of the National Guard to the border last month, migrant advocates in south Texas have complained of excessive force and civil rights violations. They note that although migrant apprehensions have increased in recent months, compared with decades ago they are at historic lows.