San Diego : Latino Man Is Killed by Border Patrol Agent

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a Latino man Saturday night after the man repeatedly threatened the agent, San Diego Police Department homicide investigators said Sunday.

Agents Thaddeus Szymczak and David Teeple were patrolling near the Mexican border when they saw several people hiding in the brush near Tia Juana Street and Willow Road west of the San Ysidro border crossing.

While they were apprehending five suspected illegal aliens, two other men ran south and then turned north toward the two Border Patrol agents. One of the suspects verbally challenged Szymczak, who pursued the pair back toward the border fence.

Szymczak focused his flashlight beam on one of the men, who then bent down and picked up a 3-foot piece of wood. When Szymczak ordered the man to drop the weapon, he threw it at the border patrolman, the police report said. The man threw another piece of wood at Szymczak before fleeing. Others who had been watching the events from a levee pelted the officer with rocks and debris.

When the same Latino man returned and again advanced on Szymczak, the agent drew his gun and fired a shot into the man’s chest at a distance of about 15 feet. The man died instantly, the police report stated.

Teeple, who was guarding the group of prisoners caught earlier, witnessed the shooting but did not participate, according to the report.