U.S. officer shots Mexican across border

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a man on the other side of the border with Mexico. According to San Diego police, the officer reacted after being hit with rocks tossed by a small group of migrants trying to climb a border fence. Both the Border Patrol and one of the members of the group differ in their accounts as to what really happened:

Jose Maria Martinez, who was with the group, said one agent exchanged his pepper ball launcher for a rifle. The agent then fired three shots from a concrete post that marks the official border, Martinez said…

Another Border Patrol spokesman, Daryl Reed, said the agent fired his gun on U.S. soil after seeing Ortega wielding a softball-sized rock on Mexican soil. He said the group hurled rocks at agents from inside the U.S., but returned to Mexico after the Border Patrol used tear gas and pepper projectiles.

The injured man is being treated in Tijuana's General Hospital after the bullet “entered his left buttocks and exited through the pelvis.” The Border Patrol officer has not been identified to the press.

The incident on Tuesday highlights the controversy over the Border Patrol’s use of chemical agents during incidents along the border. Immigration officials claim it’s needed to control drug smugglers, though border residents say that agents are acting too aggressively against the populace.

Image- WNCT

Sources- Los Angeles Times, Xinhua, KBPS, Associated Press, The Latin Americanist, San Diego Union Tribune