Man shot at San Diego County border crossing

[The Northerner]

Source: Associated Press

Federal officers shot and injured a man at the nation's busiest border crossing Saturday after he entered San Diego County from Mexico, authorities said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman Jackie Dizdul said the man, whom police have not identified, was shot just before 9 a.m. at a checkpoint at the San Ysidro Point of Entry, which connects San Diego and Tijuana, Mexico. About 40,000 vehicles cross into the U.S. at the port each day, and it has 24 northbound lanes.

Dizdul said three of the lanes have been closed while San Diego police investigate. It was not clear on Saturday afternoon what prompted the shooting or how seriously the man was injured.

In September, several people were injured after the drivers of three vans filled with dozens of suspected illegal immigrants reportedly tried to storm through the border crossing, and federal agents opened fire.

U.S. authorities shut down the border crossing for several hours. Police said the federal agents were on foot and felt trapped as two of the vans barreled toward them.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/04/17/state/n125332D14.DTL

[virgogal]

1. 24 northbound lanes? Astonishing.

[NYC_SKP]

2. These aren't through lanes, it's more like a toll crossing at a major bridge.

Seven incoming lanes from different directions spread out into 24 for the security checkpoint.

There are only six lanes northbound beyond that, and it is Interstate 5, after all.

[tularetom]

5. I always thought the "immigrant crossing" logo sign at Camp Pendleton was sorta ghoulish

[NYC_SKP]

6. Yes, it IS ghoulish...

It speaks volumes that a nuclear family, as a matter of traffic warning signs, is relegated to the ranks of deer, cattle, wildlife in general.

Very sad.

;(

[virgogal]

8. Yes they are----I've never seen one.

[Dreamer Tatum]

13. That isn't an "immigrant crossing" sign, for Pete's sake!

For those not in the area: that sign is posted on I-5 near Camp Pendleton, which is RIGHT ALONG THE PACIFIC OCEAN.

The sign is there to warn people driving 75mph on I-5 that some idiot(s) might be attempting to access the beach by running across the highway.

The border is about 40 miles TO THE SOUTH. Immigrants crossing? Only if they're crossing to enjoy a day at the beach.

[tularetom]

14. Um, you might want to read this article before you make a statement like that

There is a checkpoint within a couple of miles of that sign.

There is no access to the beach in that area since the property on both sides of the interstate is a federally owned military training facility.

There is no place to park a vehicle on the landward side of the freeway.

My granddaughter lives in San Diego, I have driven this road dozens of times and have never seen anyone on the beach.

[Dreamer Tatum]

15. That's a very popular surfing and camping area. Sorry to burst your bubble.

You can even camp on the beach at Pendleton (yes, you can). I see cars on the right shoulder ALL the time.

People who have crossed the freeway there may well have included immigrants, but the border is nowhere near there.

[tularetom]

16. Read the article dude

[Dreamer Tatum]

17. Don't need to. I drive I-5 all the time, from I-8 to the OC, and I have seen idiots trying to cross

MANY times.

Incidentally, what about that sign indicates that those people are immigrants, anyway?

[slackmaster]

26. The people depicted in the sign aren't dressed or equipped for surfing or a day at the beach

It's obvious what the sign is meant to say.

[Dreamer Tatum]

29. The stick figure on the men's room door isn't holding his johnson, either

The sign means "watch out for people running across the freeway."

I know this because there are people who run across the...freeway. To get to the big sandy place next to the pretty water.

[slackmaster]

31. But for some mysterious reason, those signs are placed only near BP checkpoints

I drove to Phoenix last month, and saw them a long way from any beach but oddly close to some of the Border Patrol stops.

[SoapBox]

20. And why is that sign like 40ish miles from the border?

[slackmaster]

25. Because there is a Border Patrol checkpoint that far from the border

People have been known to cross the freeway on foot in an effort to avoid arrest.

[virgogal]

7. Thanks for the info----blew my mind !

[izquierdista]

3. From 3 to 24

It really fans out in the last 100 meters (yards for you Americans).

[slackmaster]

24. It's been the busiest international border crossing in the world for a long, long time

I don't go there any more.

[Duer 157099]

4. Let's just position snipers on towers along the border

Shoot 'em if they dare step over that line!

Death penalty for stepping on our land!

[Maat]

9. Exactly -

the anti-immigrant stuff is just SO vile.

I've lived within two hours of there for my entire life (I'm 51 now). When I was growing up, border patrol just basically ignored things, and, believe it or not, we all got along just fine. I speak fluent Spanish because my mom (divorced - a great scandal in the 60s) made a deal with Maria. Maria and her daughter lived with us for years, and we were essentially a family. She eventually got her Green card, and we all grew up, and she went on to have a great life.

When I was a social worker, I could secure an emergency green card for relatives who had to care of kids - in emergency situations, when Mom and Dad were going to jail for dope-dealing. At least we kept families together. I became an ardent enemy of the drug war, believe me (and the anti-immigrant fever).

In 51 years, I've never asked to see my friends' documents - Geez - guess if you're an employer, you have to now.

[grantcart]

12. Shooting at the border crossing is almost unheard of and in every case

in years it happens for one of two reasons only:

1) Either the person crossing the border pulled a gun

or

2) The person crossing the border attempted to use their car to charge the customs officer.


There are almost no border patrol at the crossing as the crossing is controlled by customs officers who check documents and search for importation of commercial illegal drugs, hidden compartments filled with migrants, etc.

You have assumed a great deal with no facts.

There is nothing in the article that identifies whether the person was a Mexican or a US national. Customs officers in the past have only pulled thier weapons when they were faced by a lethal challenge by a bad guy. In fact there is a chance that the person shot was either a US law enforcement officer or military personnel because the policy at the border is that if a US citizen is caught smuggling a Mexican they are released with a warning while if they are either a law enforcement officer or military personnel they are taken into custody under a no tolerance rule.

It would be prudent to get the facts before passing judgement.

[Maat]

18. We were just talking about ...

how many of us Southern Californians see it, in general. And, DUers, please don't lecture us - we live this each and every day (not that Grantcart was - I just mean in general).

[Dreamer Tatum]

10. I would prefer positioning facts in your brain first

so you wouldn't just assume things. But of course, that isn't as much fun, is it?

[Duer 157099]

11. The only assumption I make about this is that what I wrote

is exactly what plenty of people *actually* would love to see happen.

And you know it.

[Maat]

19. Exactly -

and many of us Southern Californians are very tired of that attitude. Heck, unless the officer is positive that the target is a very dangerous felon, attempting to kill someone or likely to do so, I would prefer that there be no shooting. Of course, that could be what happened here; but, in terms of discussing general feelings ...

The Drug War has been a failure for the community ... but a great success for law enforcement, the CIA, prison guards and illegal drugsters ... in terms of budget increases and untraceable money flowing in the trillions (see "America's Drug War" by Kevin Booth). This retired social worker knows what she's talking about, believe me.

[paulsby]

22. here's a hint, genius

under no rational (or de facto or de jure) legal standard does ANY law enforcement officer, or for that matter any PERSON in the united states have to be "positive" that a target is a dangerous felon.

you can prefer whatever you want.

as for the drug war, it's not cops passing bad laws. it dems and repubs alike.

obama is certainly no foe to the war on drugs (although to his credit he has promised to curtail the raiding of med mj clinics by the feds)

don't blame the cops.

blame the culprits. those who PASSED the laws and who continue in office w/o repealing them are the culprits of the drug war

our legislators. dems and repubs (with very few execptions) alike

fuck them.

this cop knows what i am talking about, believe me. i didn't pass, nor do i support the war on drugs. LEGISLATORS did and do

[Maat]

32. HeeHee.

I think that YOU need to go read up on the law.

Maat, J.D.

[paulsby]

33. argument from authority

yawn


again, legislators pass laws

not cops (except as voters)

i didn't vote for the law on drugs, i don't like it, but i have minimal power

[paulsby]

21. what utter sensationalist crap!

how often do federal agents shoot people at the border crossing?

apparently, the last instance was september?

and what, 40,000 a DAY cross there?

it IS news when they are engaged in gunfire, such as this article, because it's RARE

all your hysterics aside.

are you a victim of media hype?

or just ignorant of statistics.

here's a hint. if 40,000 cross a day, and there are shootings every few months, the idea that people get shot for "daring to step over the line" is RIDICULOUS.

you don't even know what the facts of this shooting are, nor do i. they haven't been released.

but you are prejudiced and assume it was some nefarious gunning down of poor immigrants by those evul border guards

prejudice and ignorance. what a great combination

[xsquid]

27. They suffer at the hands of Coyotes and Narcos

(most of the time one and the same) much more than by the immigration and customs officers. In fact it's usually the border patrol that helps them after they are taken advantage of and abandoned by the narcos.

Charge the border and try to bust through it and you will get shot at, thats the way it is. Commenting on placing sniper towers on the border to shoot people is just plain moronic.

[paulsby]

34. i agree

these are rare instances

implying that these officers are bloodthirsty murderers intent on shooting poor brown people is RI-DI-CU-LOUS

[Paladin]

28. You're The One Exhibiting The Hysterics, Here...... (n/t)

[Gecko6400]

23. Unlike any of the many

boards I follow, the DU has many, many members that are more than willing to jump to any sort of unsupported conclusion if that conclusion seems to support their world view.

[Zorro]

30. Border agents shoot man driving stolen SUV

More details and a clearer picture emerging.

<snip>

SAN YSIDRO — Federal officers shot and injured a man Saturday morning after he drove through the San Ysidro border crossing in a stolen SUV, authorities said.

The man was taken by ambulance to UCSD Medical Center, a San Diego Fire-Rescue Department dispatcher said.

San Diego police said Saturday night that the man’s injuries were not considered life-threatening. He had not been identified and was under guard at the trauma center. A spokesman for the Mexican Consulate in San Diego said his office was told by U.S. officials that the man is not a Mexican citizen.

The incident started just before 9 a.m. when a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent asked the driver of a Chevy Tahoe for his identification and the man said he did not have it with him, San Diego police said.

<snip>

More at: http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/apr/18/border-agents-shoot-man-driving-stolen-suv/