Boy Who Was Shot at Border Denies He Threw Rock at Agent

Humberto Carrillo Estrada, the Mexican youth whose shooting two years ago by a U.S. Border Patrol officer created an international incident, took the witness stand Friday and denied under oath that he had pelted a Border Patrol officer with rocks.

Carrillo, now 14, said he was shot April 28, 1985, as he was reaching for a stone to throw at the officer. Carrillo said he acted after watching a Border Patrol agent beat his brother, Eduardo, with a baton. He maintained that he never had an opportunity to pick up a stone.

“I bent down to try and pick (a stone) up, and when I bent over, that’s when I was shot,” said Carrillo, who still suffers physical and emotional pains from the wound, according to testimony.

Carrillo, a soft-spoken, shy youth who listened to questions put to him through an interpreter, testified in connection with a $3-million damage suit filed against U.S. authorities. The civil suit, filed by Carrillo and his family, is being heard before U.S. District Judge Judith N. Keep in San Diego.

Shot While in Mexico

Carrillo, who was 12 at the time of the shooting, contradicted statements by U.S. authorities, who say he was pelting the border agent with rocks. Carrillo was shot on Mexican territory in Tijuana, just a few feet from the border fence near the San Ysidro crossing.

Carrillo’s mother, Maria Elena Estrada, has testified that her son still suffers back pains and emotional scars from the shooting.

On Friday, a Los Angeles psychologist, George Gamaz, asserted that Carrillo was suffering from “post-traumatic stress disorder” as a result of the shooting. He noted that the boy was frequently depressed, suffered crying spells and sometimes had trouble sleeping.

The shooting of Carrillo stirred outrage on both sides of the border. However, U.S. authorities determined that there were no grounds to press charges against Border Patrolman Edward Cole, who fired the shot. That determination provoked a firestorm of criticism from Latino groups. Cole has since been transferred to upstate New York.