Two Juárez police officers indicted following shooting of American boy

Marisela Ortega Lozano / El Paso Timeselpasotimes.com
Posted: 02/15/2012 10:35:20 AM MST

Two Juárez police officers were indicted Tuesday on charges of aggravated assault with bodily injuries, misuse of authority, and excessive force against an American boy on Feb. 9, Chihuahua state prosecutors said.

According to state detectives, police officers Yadira J. Reyes Gallardo and Ziram Marban Cadena opened fired against Sonia Tapia Cisneros and her 10-year-old son, Josué López Tapia, while riding in a Ford Escape, at Zacatepec and Isla Domingo in the Gustavo Díaz Ordaz neighborhood in Juárez.

"The prosecutors have solid evidence against the defendants," a Chihuahua Attorney General's office spokesperson said in a statement. "So the officers will be tried in a court of law."

The boy suffered bullet wounds in his hands, hip and abdomen, and already has undergone three surgeries, boy's relatives said last week.

At a news conference held in Juárez, the boy's mother, a teacher at a Juárez school, said she was inside her vehicle, waiting to pick up her 13-year-old daughter from a friend's home in Gustavo Díaz Ordaz neighborhood when she was suddenly approached by police officers.

The officers yelled at her to get out of the car, she said.

Out of fear, Tapia drove away with her son on board, and the police officers shot at the vehicle, she added.

Tapia was later taken in custody on charges of attempted murder against the police officers and later released.

The officers indicted will remain in jail for around two months during the trial, prosecutors said.

Officials from Juárez Police Department couldn't be reached for comment.

Marisela Ortega Lozano may be reached at mortega@elpasotimes.com; 542-6077.

Times reporter Alejandro Martínez-Cabrera contributed to this report.

Two Juárez police officers indicted following shooting of American boy - El Paso Times