Border Patrol Urges Action Against Agent Who Fired Into Van

The U.S. Border Patrol has recommended disciplinary action--possibly including a suspension--against an agent who last May fired his service handgun into the back of a van filled with illegal aliens, wounding an El Salvadoran woman, 24, and a Mexican boy, 16.

Authorities have determined that the agent violated patrol guidelines and should be subject to administrative penalties, which could range from a written reprimand to firing, said Ted Swofford, supervisory patrol agent in San Diego.

Officials declined to specify what sanctions will be imposed.

The proposed punishment must be approved by Gustavo De la Vina, the chief patrol agent in San Diego. The agent has the right to challenge the finding before the chief and in a subsequent hearing before a Civil Service panel.

The incident--one of a number of a controversial shootings of immigrants in the border area by U.S. law enforcement agents last year--drew condemnations from activists in the United States and Mexico.

The incident occurred May 25, after the agent and a partner, traveling in a patrol sedan, had stopped a van on Interstate 5, about six miles north of the border.

The agent got out and approached the van on foot. When the van suddenly accelerated forward, the officer, apparently attempting to blow out the vehicle’s tires, fired three shots into its rear, wounding the two, according to police accounts.

Critics said the agent, facing no deadly threat, fired recklessly, endangering the lives of at least 10 people who were in the van. The officer’s former attorney, Everett L. Bobbitt of San Diego, characterized the agent’s action as a justified, split-second response to a potentially hazardous predicament.

The FBI conducted an extensive investigation of the shooting, seeking to determine if the agent had violated the civil rights of the vehicle’s occupants. But Justice Department prosecutors decided not to file federal charges, returning the case to the administrative realm.

The Border Patrol, an enforcement arm of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service, has refused to name the agent involved.

However, sources have identified the officer as Michael Paul Ostrander, 38, who was a six-year veteran of the force at the time of the incident. Ostrander returned to active duty this week after having been on paid administrative leave since the shooting.

Ostrander, who has not spoken publicly, could not be reached for comment.