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| Mexico condemns US border shooting | Mexico condemns US border shooting |
| (4 months later) | |
| A teenage boy has died after a US border patrol agent opened fire on a group of people throwing rocks from across the Mexican border. | A teenage boy has died after a US border patrol agent opened fire on a group of people throwing rocks from across the Mexican border. |
| Agents in Nogales, Arizona, responded to reports of suspected smugglers near the border on Wednesday night and watched two people abandon a quantity of narcotics and run back to Mexico, according to the border patrol. | Agents in Nogales, Arizona, responded to reports of suspected smugglers near the border on Wednesday night and watched two people abandon a quantity of narcotics and run back to Mexico, according to the border patrol. |
| As the agents approached to investigate, people on the Mexican side of the border began throwing rocks at them and ignored orders to stop, the agency said. One agent opened fire. | As the agents approached to investigate, people on the Mexican side of the border began throwing rocks at them and ignored orders to stop, the agency said. One agent opened fire. |
| The Sonora state attorney general's office in Mexico said 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, from Nogales, Sonora, was found dead at the border from gunshot wounds. The office did not say definitively whether the boy had been shot by the agent, noting only that police had received reports of gunshots and found his body on a pavement near the border. | The Sonora state attorney general's office in Mexico said 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, from Nogales, Sonora, was found dead at the border from gunshot wounds. The office did not say definitively whether the boy had been shot by the agent, noting only that police had received reports of gunshots and found his body on a pavement near the border. |
| Mexico's foreign relations department said it "forcefully condemned" the shooting and called such deaths "a serious bilateral problem". "The disproportionate use of lethal force during immigration control actions is unacceptable under any circumstances. The repeated nature of this type of cases has drawn a reaction of rejection from Mexican society and all of the country's political forces," it said. | Mexico's foreign relations department said it "forcefully condemned" the shooting and called such deaths "a serious bilateral problem". "The disproportionate use of lethal force during immigration control actions is unacceptable under any circumstances. The repeated nature of this type of cases has drawn a reaction of rejection from Mexican society and all of the country's political forces," it said. |
| The department said it had asked US authorities for an "exhaustive, transparent and timely investigation" of the shooting. The border patrol declined to comment further and would only say that one person "appeared to have been" shot by the agent. | The department said it had asked US authorities for an "exhaustive, transparent and timely investigation" of the shooting. The border patrol declined to comment further and would only say that one person "appeared to have been" shot by the agent. |
| The FBI is investigating. Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Washington, said Mexican authorities would also investigate. | The FBI is investigating. Ricardo Alday, a spokesman for the Mexican embassy in Washington, said Mexican authorities would also investigate. |
| Border agents are generally allowed to use lethal force against rock throwers. In 2010 a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by a border patrol agent firing his weapon from El Paso, Texas, into Juarez, Mexico. Some witnesses said people on the Mexican side of the river, including the teen, were throwing rocks at the agent as he tried to arrest an illegal immigrant crossing the Rio Grande. | Border agents are generally allowed to use lethal force against rock throwers. In 2010 a 15-year-old boy was shot and killed by a border patrol agent firing his weapon from El Paso, Texas, into Juarez, Mexico. Some witnesses said people on the Mexican side of the river, including the teen, were throwing rocks at the agent as he tried to arrest an illegal immigrant crossing the Rio Grande. |
| Last year a federal judge in El Paso dismissed a lawsuit by the boy's family on the grounds that the teen was on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande when he was shot. US law gives the government immunity when such claims arise in a foreign country, the judge noted. | Last year a federal judge in El Paso dismissed a lawsuit by the boy's family on the grounds that the teen was on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande when he was shot. US law gives the government immunity when such claims arise in a foreign country, the judge noted. |
| A US justice department investigation, which included interviews with more than 25 civilian and law enforcement witnesses, determined that no federal civil rights charges could be pursued because "accident, mistake, misperception, negligence and bad judgment were not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation". | A US justice department investigation, which included interviews with more than 25 civilian and law enforcement witnesses, determined that no federal civil rights charges could be pursued because "accident, mistake, misperception, negligence and bad judgment were not sufficient to establish a federal criminal civil rights violation". |
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