Thread: 2 Shot In Mexico Drive Past Border Checkpoint Into US

2 Shot In Mexico Drive Past Border Checkpoint Into US

POSTED: 6:38 am PDT August 13, 2009
UPDATED: 8:44 am PDT August 13, 2009

SAN DIEGO -- Mexican authorities Thursday fired shots that pierced the windshield of a van carrying 30 to 40 people moments before the vehicle crossed into the United States in San Ysidro and ended up in Otay Mesa, authorities said.

U.S. border authorities called San Diego police for backup at 4:40 a.m. after the van was stopped on northbound Interstate 905 at Picador Avenue, according to San Diego police Sgt. Ray Battrick. There are conflicting reports about whether the van was driven the wrong way on I-905.

Several people fled on foot up a hillside, 10News' Rachel Bianco reported on 10News This Morning Thursday. A man and woman inside the van were wounded. Authorities said that the woman was shot in the foot and the man had a graze wound to a leg.

Two people were taken to UCSD Medical Center, a San Diego Fire-Rescue dispatcher said.

U.S. Customs and Border Protection is handling the investigation.

No other details were immediately available.

http://www.10news.com/news/20383123/detail.html

Shots fired as van crosses border into U.S.

By Karen Kucher and Angelica Martinez
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITERS
11:26 a.m. August 13, 2009

SAN DIEGO — Two people were shot early Thursday morning while they rode in a van loaded with suspected illegal immigrants that sped north across the U.S.-Mexico border in San Ysidro, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials said.

U.S. authorities noticed the full-size van about 4:20 a.m. when they heard gunshots near the border.

The van drove north into the United States from Mexico in the southbound lanes of Interstate 5, said Angelica DeCima, a Customs and Border Protection spokeswoman. San Diego police said the van apparently was shot at by Mexican authorities before it crossed the border.

About 10 minutes later, the California Highway Patrol found the van, loaded with 42 people, stopped on state Route 905 at Picador Boulevard.

A man riding in the van was shot in the leg and a woman was shot in the foot, San Diego police said. They were taken to a hospital with injuries not considered life-threatening, DeCima said.

The 40 others crammed inside – including two girls – were detained and taken back to the port of entry to be processed by authorities.

DeCima said no U.S. authorities fired on the vehicle.

Angelica Martinez: (619) 293-1317; angelica.martinez@uniontrib.com

Karen Kucher: (619) 293-1350;

http://www3.signonsandiego.com/stories/ ... van112615/

42 people in 1 van.

I wonder how many they could get in a Greyhound Bus.

Mexican authorities did this? I figured they would have helped the van, after taking their money of course. I'm sure these Mexican authorities will be fired by Calderon for not helping these poor people sneak across.