I just heard on the news that southbound San Ysidro entrance is closed,and all are being advised to go thru Otay! What a mess!!! (some mention of a
possible shooting).That is at 4 pm on Thursday.Tell your southbound friends before its' too late!!
From channel 10
bajajudy - 5-18-2006 at 04:32 PM
SAN YSIDRO, Calif. -- An officer-involved shooting leaves one man dead, 10News reported.
The man was in a van and allegedly tried to run over customs agents.
The agents fatally shot the man in the head.
The shooting shut down the San Ysidro border and traffic is backed up.Bob and Susan - 5-18-2006 at 05:08 PM
gets politicized on both sides of the border.Debra - 5-18-2006 at 05:24 PM
Let's hope we don't find out this driver was suffering a heart attack or diabetic episode. I can't imagine why else someone would try to "run the
border" going south from the north. Prayers to the family of the driver and the border agents. Sad..........MH_Stevens - 5-18-2006 at 06:48 PM
I was just going to post on this as I have just got the story from local sources.
The van had just "smuggled" some locals from Baja and was returning to Mexico. It had been followed as part of the "new order" of things on the
boarder. As the van was waiting to cross the boarder a US officer rapped the window with his baton and told the van not to proceed. The driver put the
truck in gear to run the boarder and the officer shot him in the head. Then several other officer open fire on the van.
I was going to ask how are things like this and the fence we are going to have, and decrees like this afternoons senate vote to make English "our
common and bonding language" going to effect the lives of Anglos in Baja? I was just getting ready to retire down there.Packoderm - 5-18-2006 at 07:02 PM
It seems as if the U.S. authorities is much harsher on those who try to sneak from the U.S. into Mexico than Fox is to the Mexicans who try to sneak
into the U.S. What were those guys doing anyway - making a run for the border?rts551 - 5-18-2006 at 07:14 PM
Seems like the stories are already getting started. Maybe the minNutmen were chasing themDave - 5-18-2006 at 07:16 PM
Quote:
Originally posted by MH_Stevens
The van had just "smuggled" some locals from Baja and was returning to Mexico.
Wasn't a van. It was a nice SUV. Must have been some top shelf coyotes. bancoduo - 5-18-2006 at 07:32 PM
ch8 said there were five people in the van and others were injured.bancoduo - 5-18-2006 at 07:37 PM
Some US agent is going to be thrown to the wolves.Barry A. - 5-18-2006 at 09:40 PM
FOX-NEWS says driver dead, passengers not injured. Agent did what he was trained to do, and he will be fine. Timing is bad, tho.Mike Supino - 5-18-2006 at 09:47 PM
The way that I heard it was the vehicle in question was chased from the U.S. side of the border near Otay and was pursuded to the San Ysidro south
bound 5/805 entrance. After refusing to stop.......shots were fired.fdt - 5-18-2006 at 11:21 PM
Just got home, it's 11:06PM and border is still closed. Had to cross @ Otay, took me only 20 minutes from the bridge @ the last US exit (I wont try to
explain my route, it's more complicated than my carpool explanation), but it took Mrs. ferna 2 hours from the 805 to the Otay border crossing.
The black SUV is still there and the crouds of mirones on the bridge is hughe.daveB - 5-18-2006 at 11:52 PM
sounds like a clear case of self defense...always drive a white vehicle, like OJ's.Skeet/Loreto - 5-19-2006 at 04:40 AM
A typical example of "Distorted Fact" reported by different People with different ideas , Backgrounds, Spin, Ignorance, !!!
"Just the Facts Mam" would be so much better than all the Blogs and Spin.
Will our Culture ever return to the "Truth"?
Skeet/Loreto
"The Truth Hurts"
"In God I trust"Skeet/Loreto - 5-19-2006 at 06:26 AM
Hey Pack!
"It Seems" is very much like"If",
I remember an old saying from years Past:;
"If Roberta Had Had Balls, we would have called her Uncle Robert"!
Are you Youngsters so addicted to TV and Media that you never get out and find out about"Life" and what really goes on in the "Real World" ??..
Have you been trained by the Professors who teach from a book, with no ctual experience?
When it gets down to the "Nut Cuttin" you had better be prepared for Life from the Trenches, not the Hype from the Media and Spin Merchants.
Good Morning Nat.
Anon the Preacher
Aka Skeet/Loreto
SkeetTexaslosfrailes - 5-19-2006 at 06:27 AM
it is open again now . it was closed 9 hours.Pescador - 5-19-2006 at 06:44 AM
Thanks, Wayne, guess that kind of tells the real story.
I can guarantee you-------
Barry A. - 5-19-2006 at 06:51 AM
-----that there is more to this story than the "media" know, or are reporting------because THERE ALWAYS IS!!!! In that respect, Skeeter is right on.
It SOUNDS to me like a justified "shooting", but only time and the investigation will tell.bancoduo - 5-19-2006 at 11:09 AM
Somebody is going to get there black SUV back bullet holes and all.
A few more details...no guns in the car
bajajudy - 5-19-2006 at 04:43 PM
SAN DIEGO (AP) -- The Mexican government called for an investigation Friday into a shooting by two federal agents that left one person dead at the
world's busiest border crossing. A union representing the Border Patrol agent involved in the shooting defended the officer's conduct.
The shooting took place Thursday afternoon after U.S. agents surrounded a sport utility vehicle that was under surveillance on suspicion of immigrant
smuggling, police said.
The driver refused to get out, and when agents smashed the vehicle's window with a baton, he accelerated in the direction of five U.S. agents blocking
his path and "nearly pinned an agent standing next to the vehicle," said San Diego police Lt. Jeff Sferra.
A Border Patrol agent and a U.S. customs agent opened fire. The Border Patrol agent's shots proved fatal, police said. The driver, identified by the
Mexican Consulate as Oscar Abraham Garcia, 22, of Tijuana, Mexico, was pronounced dead at the scene.
Five male passengers, all illegal Mexican immigrants, were taken into custody. Some of the passengers told investigators that Garcia and a 17-year-old
boy in the vehicle were both immigrant smugglers, said Alberto Lozano, spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego. Police said one person had
been arrested on immigrant-smuggling charges.
No weapons were found in the vehicle, San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney said. Investigators have not said whether the driver had a criminal record.
Rooney said the agents who fired have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation.
Mexican investigators were reviewing footage from security cameras at the border.
"It's worrying that someone was shot," said Luis Cabrera, the Mexican consul in San Diego. "Let's see what were the circumstances and determine if
there was or was not excessive use of force."
The shooting took place on Interstate 5, about 75 feet north of the Mexican border, at the crossing that links San Diego with Tijuana. The crossing
was shut down for nine hours while the shooting was investigated.
At the time, the vehicle was going toward the Mexico border, not away from it, police said.
Chris Bauder, president of National Border Patrol Council Local 1613, which represents Border Patrol agents in San Diego, including the one involved
in shooting, said the agent followed his training.
"Based on what I've heard, it sounds like they acted properly and did what they do were trained to do. The suspect drove right at the inspector and
posed a direct threat. His life was in danger," Bauder said.
The American Federation of Government Employees used the shooting to call for improved benefits for U.S. customs agents.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents began following the SUV after somebody reported seeing it pick up suspected illegal immigrants on the U.S.
side of another border crossing nearby, Rooney said.
[Edited on 5-19-2006 by bajajudy]
In this case--------
Barry A. - 5-19-2006 at 04:48 PM
-------------the "deadly weapon" was the SUV itself, apparently, and it is just as deadly as a "gun"----argueably more so.bajalou - 5-19-2006 at 06:00 PM
And I thought they wanted the illegals to return to Mexico.
I do not want to trivialize the horrible event
Gypsy Jan - 5-19-2006 at 07:48 PM
but, I do have to share a personal, "but for the Grace of God, go I" (After all, "God" is "dog" spelled backward).
I was in San Diego yesterday and had many things to do.
But, because one of our dogs was at the vet in Rosarito and I did not want to leave him overnight and because the vet closed in the early afternoon, I
abandoned half of my "to-do list" and crossed the border south just before the incident.
Make of it what you will, but I think I had a dog angel whispering in my ear.Sallysouth - 5-19-2006 at 09:47 PM
Yes Jan, I am very sure you did! Can you imagine sitting in the southbound with dogs, babies,health issues, etc for that many hours??? Yep, you got a
doggie angel, for sure !!!
Another article on the incident
bajajudy - 5-21-2006 at 06:39 AM
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
May 20, 2006
Federal authorities said yesterday they plan to file charges against two people arrested Thursday following the shooting death of a suspected
immigrant smuggler near the San Ysidro border crossing.
The country's busiest land border crossing was closed for nearly nine hours, stranding motorists in miles of gridlock, while authorities investigated
the shooting.
The two who have been arrested were passengers in a black Dodge Durango that authorities tried to stop on Interstate 5 just north of the border.
Officials said the SUV accelerated toward officers, who opened fire and killed the driver.
One of the people arrested, Jose Adolfo Gonzalez Fabian, 26, a Mexican citizen, is expected to appear in court Monday on immigrant smuggling charges,
authorities said.
Gonzalez has no criminal convictions in the United States, said U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Lauren Mack.
?He was arrested several times as a suspected human smuggler,? she said. But each time, authorities elected to deport him rather than to prosecute
him, she said.
A 17-year-old boy also is charged in the case. Because federal juvenile proceedings are sealed, she said she couldn't give other details about him.
The man who was shot to death was a 22-year-old Tijuana resident with a border-crossing visa, according to the Mexican Consulate.
The San Diego County Medical Examiner's Office identified the man as Oscar Abraham Garcia Barrios. Officials at the Mexican Consulate said they were
told Garcia was shot in the head, but U.S. authorities wouldn't confirm that yesterday.
Garcia was in the car with five undocumented people, ranging in age from the 17-year-old to a 35-year-old man, according to the Mexican Consulate.
The San Diego Police Department, which is handling the case, would not release identities of any of the men.
Lt. Kevin Rooney said authorities suspect Garcia was working with Gonzalez.
The other men were expected to be held by U.S. federal authorities as material witnesses, Rooney said.
Mexican Consul General Luis Cabrera Cuaron said the Mexican government will formally ask the U.S. government for an internal investigation.
The driver and three passengers were from Baja California, and the two others were from the state of Jalisco, Cabrera said.
Rooney said he didn't know how the suspected undocumented immigrants crossed the border. But the men got into the Durango on the U.S. side of the Otay
Mesa crossing.
Someone tipped off U.S. law enforcement officials, who started following the car. When Garcia apparently realized that, he attempted to return to
Mexico through the region's other border crossing at San Ysidro. U.S. authorities ? including Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol ?
attempted to intercept the car by stopping traffic just north of the Mexican port of entry in San Ysidro.
When the Durango got stuck in the traffic, the driver maneuvered to the far right of the freeway. A U.S. law enforcement official tried to stop the
car, Rooney said, and used a baton to break the car's window when the driver didn't obey. Afterward, he said, the car ?accelerated quickly.?
Initial reports indicated the shooting happened after the SUV pressed a Border Patrol agent against a vehicle.
Rooney said yesterday that the Durango had actually forced the agent to retreat into the slow-moving traffic lanes, which was dangerous, but he wasn't
squeezed between cars.
The agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer both fired at the car, Rooney said.
San Diego Police and the Medical Examiner's Office wouldn't say where the man was shot.
Cabrera with the Mexican Consulate, however, said he was informed that three shots were fired. Garcia apparently was shot in the head, neck and
possibly the chest, Cabrera said.
Rooney said they found no firearms or drugs during an initial search of the vehicle.
Representatives of federal agencies declined to provide further information on the incident or provide the names of the two men who fired the shots,
referring all questions to the San Diego Police Department.
Wendi Lee, a Border Patrol spokeswoman, said agents may use force if there's a possibility they may face great bodily harm. Agents use this criteria
to protect themselves and others, she said.
Rooney said his agency expects to complete their investigation and report within a month.
The SUV was registered to a person in Northern California, and police will attempt to find what relationship the person had to the driver, Rooney
said.
