EL PASO, TEXAS - A woman detained after the latest Border Patrol shooting is alleging the agent shot and killed the wrong man, her El Paso lawyers said Thursday.
Border Patrol officials denied the allegation and said she never made the claim during an investigation.
The woman, Laura Contreras Escárcega, 25, of Chihuahua City, was released from the El Paso immigration detention center and returned to Juárez on Thursday. Even though she is not wanted in Mexico, Mexican federal police waited for her at the top of the Stanton Street bridge and whisked her away to take her statement.
She was not allowed to speak to a mob of Mexican reporters at the bridge who are following what is becoming a politically sensitive incident in Mexico.
Contreras Escárcega was among a group of four undocumented immigrants who tried to cross the Rio Grande at Cypress and Delta streets during the night on Aug. 8.
According to Border Patrol report, Contreras Escárcega was caught by a Border Patrol agent. Her alleged smuggler, Jose Alejandro Ortiz Castillo, 23, picked up a rock and tried to throw it at the agent, who shot and killed Ortiz in self-defense, the agency said.
Contreras Escárcega’s lawyers at the United Neighborhood Organization, or UNO, which provides free representation in immigration court, said their client said that Ortiz, an alleged gang member with criminal records on both sides of the border, was not attacking the agent.
“It was another guy who had a rock, not the one who was shot,” said Marisela Garcia, UNO’s executive director.
Border Patrol officials have said the shooting was in self-defense.
“Those allegations are not consistent with the initial findings that were made immediately following the shooting by several investigating agencies based on the interviews done with her by several agencies,” said Border Patrol spokesman Doug Mosier.
FBI officials who investigated the shooting said they concluded their report and turned it over to the U.S. attorney last week. U.S. attorney officials said the case was still under review.
