US border police shot dead man: Mexico

[Judi Lynn]

Source: Agence France-Presse

US border police shot dead man: Mexico
By AFP
September 06, 2012 - Updated 1021 PKT

MEXICO CITY: Mexico charged that US border police shot and killed a Mexican man celebrating his wife's birthday Wednesday along a river that marks part of the border between the two countries.

The foreign ministry condemned the killing, which it said happened in the city of Nuevo Laredo in the northeast Mexican state of Tamaulipas.

Mexico has complained repeatedly that US border police use disproportionate force in guarding the frontier, a ministry statement said.

~snip~

The dead man was identified as Guillermo Arevalo, a 36-year-old construction worker.
His family was celebrating his wife Nora Lam's birthday with their young daughters at a park along the banks of the Bravo River when he was shot in the chest, the statement said.


Read more: http://www.thenews.com.pk/article-66517-Mexico-says-US-border-police-shot-dead-man-at-party

[Lasher]

1. A group of men threw rocks at Border Patrol agents.

Border Patrol reports say the agents on the airboat saw a person swimming toward the U.S. side, the agents attempted to discourage the swimmer, trying to get him to return to Mexico. However a group of men standing on the Patinadero began throwing rocks at the agents. That is when the agents discharged their weapon.

http://www.examiner.com/article/fbi-investigating-border-patrol-shooting-mexican-resident-killed

Looks like this happened Monday night.

[99th_Monkey]

2. This is too sad for words. :-( ~nt

[Judi Lynn]

3. Mexico wants shooting explained

Mexico wants shooting explained
By Miguel Timoshenkov, Laredo Morning Times
Updated 12:29 a.m., Thursday, September 6, 2012

The Mexican government is demanding the U.S. explain conflicting versions of the story surrounding the death of a Nuevo Laredo man allegedly shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent riding in a boat on the Rio Grande on Monday night.

According to the victim's family, Guillermo Arévalo Pedroza, 36, was at a park by the riverbank in Nuevo Laredo, grilling fajitas with his wife and children when he was shot in the chest and leg.

~snip~
According to a report given to Mexican authorities by the family, Arévalo was in an area called the “skating rink” at Viveros Park, near Colosio Boulevard, grilling fajitas for his wife, Nora Isabel Lam, 26, and his two kids, whose ages were not available.

The source said the family heard gunfire when suddenly Arévalo dropped dead.

More:
http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Mexico-wants-shooting-explained-3843264.php#ixzz25g5rdCEC

[Scootaloo]

4. Killed because neckless fucks think a civil misdemeanor is worth murdering someone over

[FlaGranny]

5. That is very sad

and inexcusable, but the headline does not translate very well from French (?).

[Smilo]

6. So in reply to someone throwing rocks it is okay to kill another?

While I don't mind people having guns and am have them myself - this country has gone stupid.

It really has gone back to the days of the wild west where someone shoots first and asks questions later.
America had gotten past that stage and was respected world-wide - now other countries are looking at us and shaking their heads - our law enforcement authorities are over-reacting time and again. We need to ask ourselves why do our police and other law enforcement groups need para-military equipment and why are they so quick to "beat down" on others in circumstances that don't warrant it.

Mexico is correct - if this happened the other way around all hell would have broken lose.

Condolences to Mr. Arevalo's family.

[slackmaster]

7. Great reporting - "The circumstances surrounding the shooting were not immediately clear"

Thank you, Pakistan Times for making things so transparent.

[Comrade Grumpy]

8. It is actually an Agence-France Presse article.

What is the reporter supposed to say if the circumstances are not clear? Nothing?

[slackmaster]

9. I hope the reporter and the agency publish a follow-up when circumstances become clearer

[Comrade Grumpy]

10. What does appear clear is that the victim was just making fajitas in the park.

When he was felled by a bullet fired by the US Border Patrol.

The uncertainty seems to be around what provoked the Border Patrol. Sounds like maybe someone was throwing rocks at them. But I know a better way of avoiding getting hit by a rock than spraying gunfire: Back up a few yards.

[slackmaster]

11. My dad taught me to always know my target and backdrop when shooting

If you aren't sure what you are shooting at or where your bullet will go if it misses or fully penetrates the target, you don't shoot.

If the BP agent(s) shot someone who was not doing anything threatening, that is a massive and inexcusable screw-up.

[Lasher]

12. That is not clear at all.

Last edited Mon Sep 10, 2012, 02:03 PM - Edit history (1)

Here is one account from UPI:

Family members of the victim, Guillermo Arevalo Pedroza, 36, told Mexican authorities he was grilling food for his wife and two children. The group could hear agents pursuing someone in the water but were unable to tell what was going on until they heard gunshots and Pedroza dropped dead, the family said. His wife took him to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

The man's wife told Mexican authorities her husband was not throwing rocks.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2012/09/06/Mexico-questions-Rio-Grande-shooting/UPI-92431346953144/

Here's another version from KSAT:

Dora Isabel Lam, Arevalo’s widow, said she and her husband were at a Nuevo Laredo park on the riverbank cooking out, celebrating family birthdays, “because he had not bought us anything.”

She said they and others saw the Border Patrol circling a young man in the Rio Grande who was trying to swim back to Mexico.

“We yelled at them to leave him alone,” Lam said.

She said when the group turned away, they heard gunfire.

“They fired, but I never thought they were shooting at my husband,” Lam said.

http://www.ksat.com/news/Alleged-Border-Patrol-shooting-leads-to-investigation/-/478452/16512730/-/a61m4t/-/index.html

In one version the group heard the commotion but could not tell what was going on. In another account they watched the incident and yelled at Border Patrol agents. The later version seems to put Arevalo within rock throwing range, although his widow insists he did not participate in the attack against the agents.

Now consider this tidbit from yet another source:

An unidentified American citizen filmed the shooting on her cell phone and turned it into U.S. authorities, according to Notimex.

http://latino.foxnews.com/latino/news/2012/09/06/border-patrol-shoots-and-kills-mexican-citizen-near-laredo/

It appears there is a video of the incident. If so, and if the video is legible, maybe we'll get to the bottom of this.

Update: This is where Guillermo Arevalo was standing when he was shot.



http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local_news/article/Father-shot-by-border-agent-while-holding-his-3848597.php#photo-3422982

Video of the event here:

#!

[loli phabay]

13. like most stories the truth lies in the middle somewhere, one of the reasons i like to wait for all

the facts to come out before i go running at it.

[Lasher]

15. Yup.

Part of the problem is, reporters can never seem to get the story straight - even if they interview witnesses who do.

[olddad56]

14. It seems like the use of deadly force has almost become a sport with the cops.

it seems like there was a time that cops shot people in the leg to stop them, or tasered someone. Now, its "step out of line" and they have a license to mow you down. Getting too much like Germany in the 30s.