3 Teens Held in Sniper Attack on Aliens : Youths Are Arrested on Suspicion of Attempted Murder in Shootings

In a new and deadly twist to the controversy over illegal aliens who live and work in suburban North County, sheriff’s deputies said Friday that they have arrested three local teen-agers on suspicion of attempted murder after they dressed in camouflage uniforms and allegedly attacked a group of aliens with firearms, wounding one.

The incident occurred Tuesday in Encinitas and was confirmed by Sheriff’s Deputy George Gardner of the Encinitas substation. There have been several recent confrontations in North County between local residents and illegal aliens who work on the many farms in the area, but Gardner said this was the first incident in Encinitas where someone has attempted to kill an alien.

At least one area resident blamed the attack on the controversial policies of Immigration and Naturalization Service Western Regional Commissioner Harold Ezell. An Encinitas councilwoman said the attack probably was motivated by “racist” feelings that exist in the community against illegal aliens.

Whatever the motivating factor, community leaders expressed fears that this recent incident may be indicative of rising violence against aliens by residents and further divide North County communities over the presence of the field workers, most of whom are Mexicans.

Three Encinitas youths, each 17 years old, were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and various gun-related charges in the incident. The three males were taken to Juvenile Hall, where they were still being held Friday.

Encinitas, a town of 49,000, is bisected by Interstate 5, which runs north and south. According to a police report of the incident, the youths were hiding in the brush on the west side of the freeway when they opened fire on a group of six aliens who were eating lunch on a hillside, under a large church cross, on the other side of the highway.

Gardner said the armed teen-agers then walked across a bridge over the freeway on Requeza Avenue and charged the startled aliens, firing at them with a .22 caliber rifle, .22 caliber handgun and pellet gun. The aliens scattered and then turned back their attackers by unleashing a barrage of rocks, said Gardner. The youths were arrested a short time later by deputies who were summoned by an anonymous caller.

Jorge A. Sanchez, 28, was wounded slightly on the foot, said Gardner. He was treated at a local hospital and released.

“That’s exactly the sort of thing I thought could happen . . . What if some other nutty kids go out there and do it again? . . . We have in this community a great deal of fear and discomfort at the visible presence of so many undocumented workers,” Encinitas Councilwoman Ann Omsted said.

Omsted, who is organizing a local task force to study the impact that illegal aliens have on the city, said there is a “real pervasive uneasiness” among Anglo residents over the aliens’ presence. She said that this uneasiness is manifesting itself in racism directed against longtime Latino residents of the town and added that she was not surprised by the shooting.

“This (uneasiness) leads to racism. We have a lot of residents in the community of Latino descent. There’s a real danger that people who are emotionally upset by the undocumented aliens will start labeling all Latinos as bad . . . Some of the letters that have appeared in our community paper are blatantly racist. Some members of the Anglo community are beginning to feel that it’s OK, and feel comfortable, about saying careless things about Latinos,” said Omsted.

In addition to shooting at the aliens, Gardner said, the youths admitted shooting at cars on Interstate 5 with the pellet gun. Deputies have not received any complaints from motorists, said Gardner.

Roberto Martinez, head of the San Diego-based Coalition for Law and Justice and the American Friends Committee, noted that the attack came less than a month after a community meeting in Encinitas where local residents discussed the presence of illegal aliens with aliens’ rights groups.

“I’m not surprised by this incident. We’ve encountered a lot of hostility and anger toward undocumented aliens from adults and this is being passed on to the kids . . . The feeling is that it’s OK to do this because these people are here illegally,” said Martinez.

At a similar forum held in nearby Carlsbad last month, Mayor Mary Casler said there was an “anti-Mexican hysteria” developing in her city. “People are afraid of anything different from themselves, even though it’s unwarranted.”

Some Carlsbad residents have complained in several emotional meetings that illegal aliens are harassing their children when they walk to school. Parents encouraged recent INS sweeps in Encinitas and Carlsbad that were led by Ezell.

“I believe these folks (aliens) are not givers to our society,” said Ezell during a press conference after North County raids last month. “They’re takers . . . I’m not ashamed of what our people have done, and I’m not ashamed of inviting anyone here to see it.”

Carlsbad realtor Dennis Meehan charged that Ezell’s comments only encourage incidents like the one that landed the three teen-agers in jail.

“Ezell gets emotions running high with his reckless comments. The parents are tricked by these comments and start to believe that all aliens are criminals, and their kids react to this demagoguery. Before long it’s open season on the undocumented . . . and as long as we continue to have this kind of commentary by public officials we’re going to create an environment where people will think it’s all right to do these kinds of things to the undocumented,” said Meehan.

Ezell was not available for comment Friday. A secretary said that he was in Washington, accompanied by his media spokesperson.