San Ysidro : Van de Kamp to See Site of Boy’s Shooting at Border

State Atty. Gen. John Van de Kamp today will inspect the site where a U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a 12-year-old Mexican boy, Van de Kamp said Tuesday. Van de Kamp added that he may conclude his investigation of the case this week.

Van de Kamp said at a press conference that he is “working very closely with” the San Diego County district attorney’s office in his investigation into Dist. Atty. Edwin Miller’s decision not to prosecute the agent who shot Humberto Carrillo Estrada on April 18 by firing through the border fence.

Agent Edward (Ned) Cole was about a quarter of a mile east of the San Ysidro port of entry when he fired a shot across the border and struck Carrillo. Cole said he fired at Humberto in self-defense because a group of youths was pelting another agent with rocks.

Among the issues Van de Kamp said his office will attempt to clarify is whether the district attorney’s office “acted appropriately according to criminal codes” when it decided against prosecuting Cole.

Van de Kamp also said his office is also reviewing some new evidence on the shooting, but he declined to elaborate.

“We have a lot of different options,” Van de Kamp said. “Further review may be warranted. We don’t override unless there has been an abuse of discretion.”

Since the shooting, a California attorney has filed a $3-million claim against the Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of the wounded boy and his family, who live near Tijuana. The INS has about more two weeks to respond to the claim. If the agency rejects the claim, a lawsuit would be filed in Superior Court, said Vickie Lopez, an assistant to Marco Lopez, the family’s attorney.

“We do welcome any investigation into the case,” Lopez said. “We were a little surprised that Van de Kamp was going to investigate it himself.”