The San Diego (California) Sheriff’s Department identified a Latino resident of that city as the person who died last Friday in a shooting with agents of the Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
At least three CBP agents fired through the windshield of the vehicle driven by Silvestre Vargas Estrada, 26, investigator Thomas Seiver told local media.
The shooting occurred last Friday night at approximately 10:15 p.m. EST when a CBP agent from the El Cajon station attempted to stop a vehicle suspected of being involved in migrant smuggling, the agency said in a statement sent to Eph.
According to CBP, Vargas Estrada did not obey the order to stop, which led to a chase that ended in the parking lot of a service station, where the confrontation took place.
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At least three CBP agents fired their firearms, the agency said in the statement.
The Hispanic was seriously injured and taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.
The Mexican consulate in San Diego indicated in a statement that the Latino was not of Mexican nationality.
However, the other two occupants of the vehicle were citizens of Mexico. Both were unharmed and are in CBP custody.
No officers were injured during the incident. The authorities have not released the names of the agents involved and have not provided details about the confrontation.
The San Diego County Sheriff’s Department’s Homicide Division is in charge of the investigation, and asked for the collaboration of witnesses.
It is unclear if the driver was carrying a weapon or if he fired at the officers.
The latest reported shooting involving a member of the CBP Border Patrol in San Diego County occurred in October 2020, when Agent Ryan Gonsalves shot and killed David Angel Villalobos-Baldovinos, a Tijuana resident nearby from the San Ysidro port of entry.
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