CBP officers kill U.S. citizen during shootout at San Ysidro Port of Entry

[COLOR=var(--primaryTextColor)]All lanes from Tijuana into the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry were closed for about 30 minutes Monday night after U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers shot a person at the port. (Alexandra Mendoza/The San Diego Union-Tribune)


Customs and Border Protection officers shot and killed the driver of a white pickup around 7:30 Monday night after the man allegedly opened fire on officers after refusing to stop for inspections.

By ALEX RIGGINS, ALEXANDRA MENDOZA
JUNE 3, 2019 8:51 PM

SAN YSIDRO — Seven U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers engaged in a shootout with a U.S. citizen Monday night at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, killing the 23-year-old after he attempted to drive through the port without stopping and then opened fire on officers, authorities said.

It happened around 7:30 p.m. in a secondary inspection area at the San Ysidro border crossing, according to San Diego police and a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.

According to a preliminary investigation, the alleged gunman was driving a white pickup and refused to stop for Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of entry driver checkpoint, San Diego police homicide Lt. Matt Dobbs said in a statement released early Tuesday.

The man steered the truck through the inspection area until he was forced to stop by a vehicle blocking his exit.

“The suspect began firing a gun out of his vehicle toward the officers, then exited his vehicle and continued firing at the officers,” Dobbs said. “The officers returned fire, striking the suspect.”

Seven of the federal officers engaged in the shootout, Dobbs said. None were injured by the gunfire.

The suspect died at the scene despite the life-saving medical efforts of Customs and Border Protection Officers and San Diego firefighters and medics, Dobbs said.

San Diego homicide detectives knew the identity the man killed in the gun battle — he was described as a 23-year-old white male citizen of the U.S. — but his name was not released pending family notifications, Dobbs said.

The San Diego Police Department’s homicide unit was investigating the shooting as is typical of most officer-involved shootings in the city limits.

The Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said while the Police Department would lead the investigation, federal border officials were planning to also conduct an internal review, per the agency’s policy.

A leader from the San Diego branch of the National Treasury Employees Union, which represents Customs and Border Protection officers, said in a text message earlier Monday night that “all officers involved are safe and uninjured.”

In a tweet Monday, the union’s local chapter president, Jorge Llanos, said union leaders and an attorney from the Peace Officers Research Association of California “are on site to support our members through this.”

Videos posted to social media showed a chaotic scene, with dozens of armed Customs and Border Protection officers appearing to swarm the white pickup, while others appeared to surround someone on the ground a few yards away.

“I heard from 15 to 20 shots,” said Juan, a San Diego resident who was crossing back into the U.S. from a Tijuana shopping trip, and declined to give his last name.
Juan said he could see almost nothing other than Customs and Border Protection officers “running up and down” the lanes.

“It sounded like fireworks,” said Jesús Gutiérrez, a vendor who sells windshield wipers to motorists waiting on the Mexican side of the border crossing. “We couldn’t really understand what was happening.”

Marco Sotomayor, Tijuana’s public safety secretary, tweeted that Customs and Border Protection agents shut down all entry lanes from Tijuana into the U.S. at the San Ysidro Port of Entry.

Around 8:20 p.m., he tweeted that the lanes were reopened.


Marco Sotomayor@MarcoSotomayor

Se informa que se generó un incidente en la garita de San Ysidro, en territorio de Estados Unidos, en este momento @CBPSanDiego cerró todos los carriles, en cuanto se tenga mas información se dará a conocer. Se recomienda utilizar garita de Otay @SSPMTijuana @AlcaldiaTijuana

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8:02 PM - Jun 3, 2019
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The Customs and Border Protection spokesperson said northbound vehicle and pedestrian operations at the port of entry were suspended for about 30 minutes. The southbound pedestrian and vehicle lanes were never shut down.

Mario Martinez, the director of Tijuana’s municipal police, said his officers stationed in the area rushed toward the sound of gunfire before learning it had happened in U.S. territory.

He said Tijuana police were told that Customs and Border Protection officers stopped a vehicle trying to “pass without permission.”


U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers closed down the three far left lanes at the San Ysidro Port of Entry during an investigation into a shooting at the port Monday night. (Alexandra Mendoza/The San Diego Union-Tribune)


After most northbound lanes were reopened, the three far left lanes — near where the shooting reportedly occurred — were closed down again.

This is a breaking news story that will be updated as more information becomes available.

https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com...-port-of-entry