Border agent shoots suspected smuggler

UNION-TRIBUNE

7:03 a.m. February 14, 2008

SAN YSIDRO: A Border Patrol agent shot a suspected illegal-immigrant smuggler early yesterday in a pre-dawn raid on a San Ysidro motel.

The injured man was hit in the leg and treated at a San Diego hospital, police said.

The incident began about 3:30 a.m. when several uniformed Border Patrol agents entered Room 252 of the Economy Inn on Via de San Ysidro off Interstate 5, said San Diego police Capt. Cesar Solis. They confronted two Latino men, one of whom was known to have a history of illegal-immigrant smuggling.

“They told both men repeatedly not to move, in Spanish,” Solis said. “One complied and was taken into custody.”

The second man, hiding under a blanket, continued to move as if reaching for a weapon, Solis said. An agent then fired one shot, hitting the man in the leg, he said.