Thread: Smugglers Suspected in Freeway Shootout

Apr 17, 11:52 PM EDT


Smugglers Suspected in Freeway Shootout


HOUSTON (AP) -- People in two trucks exchanged gunfire along a freeway Tuesday, killing a man and injuring several others in what police say might have been a shootout among rival immigrant smuggling gangs.

The trucks exited and crashed into a car before the occupants "proceeded to get out of their vehicles to have a shootout," said police Sgt. C.E. Elliott.

Investigators are trying to determine whether the shootout might have been one smuggler's attempt to hijack a rival's load of immigrants.

One of the trucks was carrying at least 10 people, police said.

One man was in critical condition at a nearby hospital after being shot in the head and run over by a pickup truck or sports utility vehicle as it sped from the scene.

Detectives found a man dead in the other bullet-riddled pickup. Three other gunshot victims later turned up at area hospitals.

Police did not immediately release the names of any of the people involved in the shootout.

At least two other vehicles were hit by stray bullets, but no one was injured.

Police had one suspect in custody Tuesday night.


http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/F/ ... SECTION=US

"a freeway" ????? What the *#?& type of reporting is this?

April 18, 2007, 6:15PM
Police still looking for gunmen in smuggling-related shootout


By JUAN A. LOZANO Associated Press Writer
© 2007 The Associated Press


HOUSTON — Authorities were still searching Wednesday for the gunmen involved in a brazen and rambling shootout on a busy Houston freeway, apparently part of an attempt to try to steal a load of illegal immigrants.

Jose Amilcar Reyes Guidos, 43, a suspected illegal immigrant from El Salvador, died in the shootout. Another man, Moises DeJesus Mejia, 34, was in critical condition Wednesday after being shot in the head and run over by a truck driven by suspects who fled the scene. Authorities were still trying to determine where Mejia was from but believe he is also an illegal immigrant.

A third person, who told Houston police he was an innocent bystander who was hit by a stray bullet, was treated and released from a local hospital.

The shootout, allegedly involving rival smuggling gangs, began around noon Tuesday in southwest Houston on U.S. Highway 59 when a silver Ford truck, traveling north, exited the freeway.

While the silver truck was stopped on the exit ramp, two Hispanic males walked up to the vehicle and began to open fire, using large caliber handguns, said Houston police Sgt. C.E. Elliott.

The silver truck sped down the ramp and approached an intersection, quickly followed by a green Chevy truck

"The silver truck ran the red light and crashed into a Honda. The truck spun out," Elliott said. "At that point, at least one to three males exited the green truck and began to open fire on the silver Ford truck."

At least eight people who were riding in the silver truck got out and fled the scene once the shooting began, police said. It was unclear if anybody in the silver truck shot back during the incident.

Mejia, who was in the silver truck, was shot in the head and collapsed in the middle of the intersection, Elliott said.

The driver of the silver truck managed to start his vehicle again and went one block where he abandoned the vehicle. The truck had multiple flat tires and was riddled with bullets, Elliott said. Guidos was found dead, lying in the bed of the vehicle.

As the green truck fled the scene, it ran over Mejia.

Houston police investigators said they are still trying to determine if the shootout was the result of rival immigrant smuggling groups battling each other.

"Anytime you have multiple people jumping out of a pickup truck and running in all different directions, especially off the 59 Freeway, which is a major corridor for illegal (immigrant) smuggling coming up from the (South Texas) valley, these are some indicators that lead us to believe this could be (immigrant) smuggling gone wrong," said Scott Hatfield, an assistant special agent with the U.S. Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Police detained two people who fled the silver truck and are still questioning them. They only speak Spanish and are believed to be illegal immigrants.

Elliott said investigators were waiting to examine video from cameras at the intersection that record drivers who run red lights. The cameras could have captured the shootout, police said.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/4728114.html