NOGALES, SONORA.- U.S. Customs and Border Protection released body camera footage of a Border Patrol agent shooting and killing a U.S. citizen near Sasabe one month ago, in March.
The release of the footage comes nearly a month after the shooting took place on March 14 at 6:41 p.m. in southwestern Arizona north of Sasabe. The dead man was suspected of smuggling five undocumented migrants in a BMW.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department is conducting an external criminal investigation into the shooting.
“The loss of a life during a CBP law enforcement encounter profoundly impacts everyone involved, the family of the deceased, the officers and agents on the scene, the greater CBP workforce, and the communities we serve,” CBP Acting Commissioner Troy Miller said in a written statement accompanying the video.
The body camera video shows a Border Patrol agent driving down a dirt road as he pursues the BMW. The agent positions his pickup truck behind the BMW before getting out and smashing the rear and front driver’s side windows with his baton.
The agent and the driver struggle with each other as the driver repeatedly sticks his hand out of the broken window and the agent waves his baton. The driver then switches gears and puts the car into reverse as the agent tries to hold onto his left forearm.
The driver begins driving in reverse as the agent tries to hold onto his arm.
As the driver begins to sharply turn the wheel to turn the car left, the agent pulls out his handgun and fires once at the driver inside the car. The driver immediately slumps forward.
No audio was captured during the first two minutes of the video.
Source: El Diario de Sonora
