Published: 01.19.2007

4 Guardsmen were surrounded during face-off with armed menBy Brady McCombs
ARIZONA DAILY STAR
Four armed Guardsmen from Tennessee were surrounded by 6-8 men carrying automatic weapons at one point during an encounter on Jan. 3 east of Sasabe.

This and other details have emerged about the widely-talked about incident in an account of the event released by Governor Janet Napolitano's office and confirmed by the National Guard and the U.S. Border Patrol.

Statements from legislative liaisons from the National Guard Bureau and U.S. Customs and Border Protection released by Governor Janet Napolitano's office paint a picture of much closer and potentially more dangerous encounter than has previously been described by the Border Patrol and National Guard.

According to the statements, a group of six to eight men wearing ballistic vests and carrying automatic weapons approached an entrance identification team site manned by four National Guardsmen from Tennessee on that night.

As they approached the Guardsmen, the armed men "split into two groups to surround the site," said the statement from the National Guard government liaison.

As the Guardsmen were putting their gear into the vehicle to leave, one of the armed men approached within 10 meters, the National Guard report said.

The National Guard report goes on to say "Both groups kept their weapons 'ready low' and never pointed them at each other. No shots were fired."

The Guardsmen finished loading their things and as they left the area the Guardsmen called Border Patrol to report the situation.

The Border Patrol statement says the agency was notified by handheld radio and satellite phone as the situation unfolded. After the face-off with the lone gunman who approached to within 20 yards, the Guardsman followed standard operating procedure and "retreated to their vehicle and drove approximately 200 yards away from the site."

The Border Patrol Statement says a Customs and Border Protection helicopter arrived within five minutes and flew over the area, and five Border Patrol agents were on site within 10 minutes.

The helicopter and agents on the ground tracked the armed men back into Mexico. The helicopter continued to hover in the area looking for possible threats from Mexico.

Nothing was taken or moved at the National Guard post. Both reports emphasized that the Guardsman were armed at the time of the encounter.

"We see this as a triumph of the training, discipline and professionalism of the Guardsmen performing this mission," reads the report from the National Guard legislative liaison.

Arizona National Guard spokesman Maj. Paul Aguirre said he hadn't released the report but confirmed the accuracy.

"It was successful response to a very serious incident," Maj. Aguirre said.

Gustavo Soto, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman, also confirmed the accuracy of the reports Friday although he said he doesn't know where they got some of their information. The Tucson Sector didn't release the statement because it wasn't theirs and because they wanted to make sure not to compromise their own investigation.

The details in the report won't interfere with their own investigation but could with the Mexican government's, Soto said.

Guardsmen working in entrance identification teams will continue to follow protocol, said Maj. Aguirre, which means: "If they feel physically threatened, they will react accordingly," he said.

If they were shot at, they would shoot back, he said.
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