Inquiry Continues Into Sunday’s Border Shooting

The Border Patrol continued its internal investigation Tuesday into the brief and apparently unintentional gunfight between two agents that left one patrol officer seriously wounded.

Details of the Sunday shooting remain a mystery as Border Patrol officials have not yet explained why the shooting victim, Agent Augustin Diaz, was standing over three illegal aliens with his gun drawn. Border Patrol policy prohibits agents from drawing their guns except in life-threatening situations.

Lyle Johnson, the other agent involved in the shooting, was working with another Border Patrol agent and two San Diego County sheriff’s deputies under Operation Alliance to help stem the flow of drugs through the San Diego border region. Johnson had identified himself and then opened fire on Diaz, believing he was robbing three undocumented aliens, San Diego police said.

Diaz returned fire but Johnson was not hit. It was not determined how many shots were fired, although San Diego police initially said that nine rounds were exchanged between the two men, who were in uniform. Diaz, 28, remained in Mercy Hospital in satisfactory condition.

Marshall Mehlos, assistant chief of the Border Patrol, admitted that different operations taking place in the area may have contributed to the shooting. “When you get that many people, the potential for that happening increases,” Mehlos said.

He added that, when other law enforcement agencies conduct operations near the border at night, they meet Border Patrol officials to coordinate efforts and prevent officers from interfering with one another. Border Patrol officers frequently communicate with other officers by radio to inform them that they are pursuing suspected illegal aliens, border bandits or drug smugglers.

“It would appear it was a breakdown in communications,” Mehlos said.

Diaz, a four-year veteran of the Border Patrol, and two other agents were patrolling the Tree Canyon area Sunday, a brush-covered area about two miles north of the Otay Mesa border crossing and three-quarters of a mile northeast of Brown Field. They were apprehending illegal aliens when Johnson, whose group also was patrolling the vicinity looking for drug smugglers, confronted Diaz.

The joint operation between the Border Patrol and the Sheriff’s Department has been suspended pending completion of the investigation. Operation Alliance, however, will continue using federal agents, San Diego police and the Border Patrol.