- Title: MEXICO: Authorities investigate death of teenager allegedly killed by US agents
- Date: 9th June 2010
- Summary: FORENSIC VAN TEENAGERS BODY LYING UNDER BRIDGE
- Embargoed: 24th June 2010 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Mexico
- Country: Mexico
- Topics: Crime / Law Enforcement,International Relations
- Reuters ID: LVAA8TMH0XIWTAR150UD9Z6BS4UJ
- Story Text: Mexican authorities investigated on Tuesday (June 08) the death of a fourteen-year-old teenage boy who was shot dead, allegedly by a US Border Patrol agent who was guarding the border crossing between Ciudad Juarez and El Paso.
Eyewitnesses said Sergio Hernandez was playing with friends in a dry area of river Bravo, that divides Mexico and the United States, when he crossed for a moment into the United States together with the rest of his friends and who were then chased by a patrol agent on his bike.
Hernandez ran back into Mexican soil, hid behind a steel wall, looked out and was hit by at least one bullet in the head.
"I was standing next to the flag pole on the bridge (US-Mexico border crossing) looking at four or five youngsters crossing from the US. Migration officials started chasing them, they crossed back (into Mexico). Once they (youngsters) were on Mexican soil, an official - I don't know if he was a migration agent or a police officer - arrived on a bike, wearing a white shirt, a helmet and shorts, and he shot at the youngsters, at the whole group. Some ran in one direction and others in another. This one (teenage victim) hid behind the wall. He looked out and that's when the teenager was shot," said an eyewitness who did not wish to be named or show his face.
Authorities in the state of Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is located, said in a statement they were demanding U.S. authorities conduct an in-depth investigation into the incident.
The unidentified eyewitness said the teenagers were unarmed.
"Nothing, they were not carrying anything, they weren't carrying weapons, packages, backpacks, only the clothes they were wearing, that's it. The teenager lying there (victim); the only thing he did was look out. When he looked out, he was shot, the agent shot at him twice. He thought about doing it for about five seconds, because he shot at him once which left him (teenager) astonished and then he shot him again. It seems he was hit in the head."
Andrea Simmons, an FBI spokesperson, was quoted by local newspaper Diario de Juarez as saying that on Monday afternoon at least one US Border Patrol agent had fired his weapon against someone and they were investigating the case.
The murder occurred days after Mexican migrant Anastasio Hernandez was killed by US Border Patrol agents.
Mexican President Felipe Calderon said Hernandez' murder was an "unacceptable violation" to the human rights of migrants, who try to enter the US illegally to escape from poverty in Mexico.
Both countries share a inhospitable 3,200 kilometre (1,988 miles) long border where illegal migrants cross as well as tonnes of drugs heading to the United States. There are permanent violent incidents along the border, especially in Ciudad Juarez. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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