Chula Vista

A Chula Vista police case file on a shooting by a U.S. Border Patrol agent--in which two undocumented workers inside a van were injured--has been forwarded to the FBI, with the conclusion that the agent was firing at the van’s tires rather than its occupants.

Police Lt. Dean Girdner said the file does not carry any recommendation on whether the unidentified agent should be prosecuted for the May 5 shooting, which occurred near Interstate 25 and the L street exit.

“All we do is gather the facts and present it to the FBI,” he said. “Then they will be making any conclusions.”

However, he did say that the agent was trying to shoot out the van’s tires to make the vehicle stop. The van sped off after agents stopped the vehicle because they suspected it was stolen and possibly being used to smuggle illegal aliens into the United States. Two of the occupants were wounded; one shot in the neck, the other in the arm.

Girdner said that, although Chula Vista police release the names of officers who shoot people, he was honoring a Border Patrol policy in not releasing the name of the agent who fired at the van.