Thread: 3 In Custody In Border Agent's Death - July 28,2009 UPDATE

JohnDoe wrote:

1 or 2 of them were probable just witness and the 3 one was the killer.

An accessory to murder, the legal definition being an individual who aids or contributes to a murder without participating in the act of murder.

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

I haven't been home much for the past few days but still haven't seen this on TV news or in the papers. I guess the telegraphs to NY aren't working so good.

dont feel bad it wasnt mentioned in the houston chronicle, the dallas morning news or the san antonio express. the three largest cities in texas.

Originally Posted by jamesw62

Originally Posted by Ratbstard

I haven't been home much for the past few days but still haven't seen this on TV news or in the papers. I guess the telegraphs to NY aren't working so good.

dont feel bad it wasnt mentioned in the houston chronicle, the dallas morning news or the san antonio express. the three largest cities in texas.

So if I were to believe the MSM purposefully fail to report certain news items would my 'conspiracy nut' file get bigger?

His death is a vivid reminder that we are engaged in a serious effort to secure our border

Janet Napolitano can flap her lip all she wants to, but she is no more concerned with protecting our borders than Obama is!!!!!!

Four suspects detained in Mexico in U.S. agent's killing

Updated 15m ago

CHULA VISTA, California (AP) — Mexican police announced the arrests Saturday of four men suspected of involvement in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent as American investigators searched hospitals for gunmen who were possibly wounded in the first such shooting death in more than a decade.

Investigators said they have notified hospitals on both sides of the border to be alert for patients with suspicious or unexplained injuries. They said at least two people may have been wounded and left blood at the scene.

Agent Albert Rosas was killed while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County. He was shot in the head and body, and was dead when other agents arrived, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

The men detained in Mexico are allegedly part of an immigrant smuggling ring, and 21 immigrants were found with them when police detained them and seized four guns near Tecate, said Elias Alvarez Hernandez, coordinator of federal police in Baja California state.

Messages left Saturday for the FBI were not immediately returned.

Mexico police did not say what evidence they had against the four, whom they identified as Jose Quintero Ruiz, 43, and his brother Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, 49, and taxi drivers Jose Alfredo Camacho, 34 and Antonio Valladares, 57.

American officials have expressed concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials. Slotter said investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.

Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said Mexican law enforcement agencies are cooperating in the case.

"This is a tragic example of the violence we keep facing at our common border as President (Felipe) Calderon continues to roll back transnational organized crime, and underscores the need for both our countries to keep working as full partners to guarantee the safety and security of those living on both sides of our border communities," Sarukhan said in a written statement Saturday.

Investigators said blood evidence at the scene indicated at least one individual and possibly others had serious injuries, perhaps by gunfire. They didn't know how many shots were fired, if Rosas fired any shots himself, or how many guns were used.

"It's all possible. I can't definitively say X number of people fired or Agent Rosas got off shots or didn't. I mean, it's too early in the investigation to say that with any certainty," Slotter said.

Authorities said at least one other agent in the field heard gunshots after Rosas left to respond to the call, and Rosas couldn't be reached on his radio afterward.

Rosas was the first Border Patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than a decade, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., which tracks fallen officers using information provided by law enforcement agencies. Another agent, Luis Aguilar, was intentionally run over by a fleeing man driving a drug-laden Hummer in January 2008.

Rosas, a three-year Border Patrol veteran, had a 2-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter, said Richard Barlow, acting chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector.

Barlow said he could not confirm reports that Rosas called for backup and then went ahead before anyone arrived. But he said it isn't unusual for agents to work alone along the 60 miles of border in the San Diego sector.

"It is a common occurrence for our agents to start tracking individuals or start pursuing individuals that make an incursion into the United States by himself prior to backup arriving," he said.

The San Diego sector of the Border Patrol has seen a 22% decrease in border apprehensions this year after a 7% increase in each of the previous two years. Barlow said agents routinely have rocks thrown at them and are physically assaulted.

The president of the union representing 17,000 Border Patrol agents declined to discuss the details of the shooting but said his organization has long been concerned about staffing levels and situations where agents work alone.

T.J. Bonner, president of the National Border Patrol Council, said it was "fairly common for our agents throughout San Diego County and the rest of the country to work without a partner. They each have separate vehicles, and it's a matter of concern with us."

Since 1919, 108 Border Patrol agents have died on duty, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page. Gunfire was the leading cause with 30 deaths, followed by automobile accidents and aircraft accidents.

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killer or killers.
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Arrest in Border Patrol agent death

By Kristina Davis and Sandra Dibble
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
8:40 p.m. July 25, 2009

Previous: Manhunt on in agent's slaying

TIJUANA – Mexican federal law enforcement authorities said last night that a man who was detained outside Tecate has been identified as the gunman in the shooting death of U.S. Border Patrol Agent Robert Rosas.

The suspect, Ernesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, is in federal custody, Commissioner Elias Alvarez Hernandez, head of federal police forces in Baja California, said at a news conference in Tijuana.

Tecate municipal police on Friday arrested Parra Valenzuela in the vicinity of the shooting five hours afterward. They said that he had a 9mm pistol tucked in his clothing.

The man who named Parra Valenzuela as the shooter was identified as Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, one of four human-smuggling suspects who were detained in the same Tecate area by Mexican federal police, along with 21 migrants.

Alvarez said that Quintero was part of a smuggling group wanted by U.S. authorities for two recent murders and a rape.

Rosas, 30, was tracking suspected illegal immigrants in remote and rocky terrain about 9:15 p.m. Thursday when he came under fire near the U.S.-Mexican border.

Other agents found him dead outside his vehicle near the border fence moments later.

The shooting prompted a massive search on both sides of the border, with the investigation being led by the FBI, which offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailants. Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego office, said Friday that blood at the scene suggested that at least one assailant might have been wounded. Hospitals and clinics were being checked to determine if anyone suspicious sought medical aid.

Reached by e-mail Saturday night, FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth said he was unable to confirm the report of the arrest in Mexico. Authories also have not confirmed news reports of arrests Friday at a San Jose hospital in connection with the case.

The shooting has rekindled concerns for the safety of agents who often patrol desolate areas alone.

“Any time a tragedy occurs, it causes a lot of introspection as to whether the tactics are a match for the threats agents are facing,â€

Federales: Four detained in agent's killing
July 25, 10:02 PM Comment
Robert Wimer Rosas, Jr.
The Associated Press

Four men from Mexico have been arrested, suspected of being involved in the shooting death of Agent Albert Rosas near Campo on Thursday night, a Mexican federal police official said.

On this side of the border, FBI and Border Patrol officials have not confirmed the reports.

Investigators on both side of the border have alerted hospitals to be on the lookout for patients with suspicious or unexplained injuries. They believe least two people may have been wounded and left blood at the scene.

Those detained in Mexico are allegedly part of an immigrant smuggling ring, and 21 immigrants were found with them when police detained them and seized four guns near Tecate, Elias Alvarez Hernandez, coordinator of federal police in Baja California state. told the associated press.

Police in Tecate, Mexico, said late Friday they had arrested Earnesto Parra Valenzuela, 36, who was found with a weapon near the shooting scene. U.S. authorities have not connected him to the shooting, the Los Angeles Times reports.

Federal officials have offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailants.

www.examiner.com

MEXICO CITY — Mexican police announced the arrests Saturday of four men suspected of involvement in the killing of a U.S. Border Patrol agent as American investigators searched hospitals for gunmen who were possibly wounded in the first such shooting death in more than a decade.

Investigators said they have notified hospitals on both sides of the border to be alert for patients with suspicious or unexplained injuries. They said at least two people may have been wounded and left blood at the scene.

Agent Robert Rosas was killed Thursday while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County. He was shot in the head and body and was dead when other agents arrived, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

The men detained in Mexico are allegedly part of an immigrant smuggling ring, and 21 immigrants were found with them when police detained them and seized four guns near Tecate, said Elias Alvarez Hernandez, coordinator of federal police in Baja California state.

Alvarez also said at the news conference that one of the suspects told police that another man detained Friday with a handgun had shot Rosas. The Los Angeles Times reported that police in Tecate said Friday they had arrested 36-year-old Ernesto Parra Valenzuela near the crime scene with a Border Patrol-issued weapon after the shooting. The man, who was injured, was taken to a hospital, according to a news release.

But FBI spokesman Darrell Foxworth told The Associated Press in a brief e-mail Saturday night that he could not confirm or comment on any arrest reports. The bureau did not return phone calls left throughout the day.

Mexico police did not say what evidence they had against the four, whom they identified as Jose Quintero Ruiz, 43, and his brother Jose Eugenio Quintero Ruiz, 49, and taxi drivers Jose Alfredo Camacho, 34 and Antonio Valladares, 57.

American officials have expressed concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials. Slotter said investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.

Arturo Sarukhan, the Mexican ambassador to the United States, said Mexican law enforcement agencies are cooperating in the case.

"This is a tragic example of the violence we keep facing at our common border as President (Felipe) Calderon continues to roll back transnational organized crime, and underscores the need for both our countries to keep working as full partners to guarantee the safety and security of those living on both sides of our border communities," Sarukhan said in a written statement Saturday.

Investigators said blood evidence at the scene indicated at least one culprit and possibly others had serious injuries, perhaps by gunfire. They didn't know how many shots were fired, if Rosas fired any shots himself, or how many guns were used.

"It's all possible. I can't definitively say X number of people fired or Agent Rosas got off shots or didn't. I mean, it's too early in the investigation to say that with any certainty," Slotter said.

Authorities said at least one other agent in the field heard gunshots after Rosas left to respond to the call, and Rosas couldn't be reached on his radio afterward.

Rosas was the first Border Patrol agent to die in a shooting in more than a decade, according to The Officer Down Memorial Page Inc., which tracks fallen officers using information provided by law enforcement agencies. Another agent, Luis Aguilar, was intentionally run over by a fleeing man driving a drug-laden Hummer in January 2008.

Rosas, a three-year Border Patrol veteran, had a 2-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter, said Richard Barlow, acting chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol's San Diego sector.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534852,00.html

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Four detained in Mexico in slaying of U.S. border agent

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THEY ALSO KILL THEIR OWN

MEXICANS KILLING MEXICANS

Mexican Drug War

11800+ Killed (December 2006 - July 2009), including 1000+ government . . .

Also, more than 200 Americans had been killed in Mexico itself since 2004 . . .

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexican_Drug_War