Agent Kills Suspected Smuggler of Illegal Aliens

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a man who allegedly attempted to run over the agent with a truck that was filled with illegal aliens, authorities said Tuesday.

The incident occurred about 5:15 p.m. Monday on an isolated stretch of California 94 in East County, just a few miles from the U.S.-Mexico border.

The victim, believed to be 25 and 35 years old, was pronounced dead Tuesday morning at Sharp Memorial Hospital in San Diego. His identity was not immediately known. None of the 57 illegal aliens in the truck were injured.

The Border Patrol agent, Patrick Maloney, 38, was slightly injured when bumped by the truck but required no hospitalization, authorities said.

Investigating Agencies

The FBI and the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department are investigating the incident to determine whether the shooting was justified. But Border Patrol officials said a preliminary inquiry indicated that the agent acted appropriately.

“I don’t want to preclude any other investigations . . . but it’s my opinion that the officer was certainly justified and acting in self-defense,” said Dale Cozart, chief patrol agent in San Diego.

Roberto Martinez, who heads a San Diego-based rights group that often criticizes alleged Border Patrol abuses, said he was concerned that this and other shootings may be part of a pattern of Border Patrol abuse of area Latinos.

However, Martinez, co-chairman of the Coalition for Law and Justice, said he had not had an opportunity to look into the latest shooting.

The Border Patrol was unable to provide a breakdown on recent shootings. However, in the last three years, the Border Crime Prevention Unit--composed of officers from the Border Patrol and San Diego Police Department who seek to protect illegal aliens from bandits--has been involved in about 20 shootings, a number of which resulted in fatalities, said Border Patrol spokesman Wayne Kirkpatrick. Officials have said that all shootings by unit members were justified.

Monday’s incident began, Cozart said, after agents at the Border Patrol station in Campo received information that a vehicle suspected of being used to smuggle aliens had crossed into the United States from Mexico.

The rugged and isolated terrain along the U.S.-Mexico border near Campo make it a hotbed for smugglers of both people and narcotics, officials say. “It’s a notorious area for smuggling,” said Cozart, who added that there had been two other assaults against Border Patrol units in recent months.

Authorities provided the following account of the shooting:

Three agents in two Border Patrol vans, alerted to the possible smuggling operation, spotted the vehicle--a white Ford truck--as it turned left from Forrest Gate Road onto the westbound lane of California 94. The two Border Patrol vehicles, with sirens and flashing lights on, pursued the truck at speeds under 50 m.p.h. for about three miles along the winding highway until the truck stopped about two miles west of Campo.

As agents approached the truck on foot, the truck made a U-turn and headed at Maloney, who was trapped between the left front fender of the truck and his patrol vehicle. Maloney fired one shot from his .357 magnum revolver at the windshield of the truck, striking the driver in the head. The truck then bumped the agent, veered off the road and came to a halt.

First aid was administered to the driver, who was eventually taken by Life Flight helicopter to Sharp Memorial Hospital, where he was declared dead at 6:45 a.m. Tuesday.

In the back of the truck, agents found 55 passengers, including 9 women. Two other men were in the cab with the driver. All 57 were described as illegal aliens from Mexico; it appeared likely that after questioning, most or all would be returned to Mexico.

Other than saying that Maloney was a three- to four-year veteran of the Border Patrol, Cozart declined to provide details on the agent.