Days after a former detention center warden was arrested for fatally shooting a migrant, the FBI confirmed it was investigating a U.S. Border Patrol station in Texas in a separate incident. According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the investigation was prompted Tuesday after news spread that a migrant in custody at the Ysleta Border Patrol station in El Paso had been shot and killed.
Identified by Mexican consulate officials as a Mexican citizen, officials with the consulate confirmed the man was a migrant being processed on criminal charges, KFOX14/CBS4 reported. He died from his injuries after being transported to a local hospital.
"At approximately 13:00 hours, the FBI El Paso Field Office was contacted by the Ysleta U.S. Border Patrol Station regarding an agent involved shooting involving a person detained at the Station," said Jeffrey R. Downey, FBI El Paso special agent in charge, according to KFOX14/CBS4.
"FBI El Paso’s Violent Crime Task Force and Evidence Response Team were deployed to the Station. One person was taken into custody and was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. At this time, the FBI can confirm the person has died from his injuries.”
According to Downey, the El Paso Police Department and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility are actively working on the investigation.
While social media is speculating over claims that the detainee was shot after allegedly reaching for an agent's gun, because of the ongoing investigation, Border Patrol spokesman Agent Carlos Rivera said he could not confirm that information, the El Paso Times reported. At this time it is unclear what lead to the weapon going off and who fired it.
Other details, including how many Border Patrol agents were involved in the incident and information on the person killed, have also not been disclosed.
According to ABC News, government data shows the number of migrants detained or arrested at the southern border is at a record high this fiscal year. In addition to an increase in detained migrants, there has also been an increase in the number of use of force incidents involving a gun. According to Customs and Border Protections data, there have been 17 such shootings since last October compared to seven in 2019.
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Identified by Mexican consulate officials as a Mexican citizen, officials with the consulate confirmed the man was a migrant being processed on criminal charges, KFOX14/CBS4 reported. He died from his injuries after being transported to a local hospital.
"At approximately 13:00 hours, the FBI El Paso Field Office was contacted by the Ysleta U.S. Border Patrol Station regarding an agent involved shooting involving a person detained at the Station," said Jeffrey R. Downey, FBI El Paso special agent in charge, according to KFOX14/CBS4.
"FBI El Paso’s Violent Crime Task Force and Evidence Response Team were deployed to the Station. One person was taken into custody and was transported to a local hospital for medical treatment. At this time, the FBI can confirm the person has died from his injuries.”
According to Downey, the El Paso Police Department and the U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility are actively working on the investigation.
While social media is speculating over claims that the detainee was shot after allegedly reaching for an agent's gun, because of the ongoing investigation, Border Patrol spokesman Agent Carlos Rivera said he could not confirm that information, the El Paso Times reported. At this time it is unclear what lead to the weapon going off and who fired it.
Other details, including how many Border Patrol agents were involved in the incident and information on the person killed, have also not been disclosed.
According to ABC News, government data shows the number of migrants detained or arrested at the southern border is at a record high this fiscal year. In addition to an increase in detained migrants, there has also been an increase in the number of use of force incidents involving a gun. According to Customs and Border Protections data, there have been 17 such shootings since last October compared to seven in 2019.
RELATED STORIES:
Texas immigration jail warden with history of abuse toward migrants arrested for murder
Brothers who shot migrants in Texas claim they thought they were shooting animals not people