With no direct knowledge of what happened the night a U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a Mexican national in a remote area of Cochise County, a border watchdog group is promoting unsubstantiated claims of “red flags” related to the investigation into the shooting.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition issued a press release on Feb. 23 stating the investigation into last month’s death of Carmelo Cruz Marcos is “another example of compromised investigations and possible cover-up.” Cruz, 32, resided in Puebla with his three children, but according to his family he chose to migrate to the United States without having proper immigration documents.
Cruz died sometime between 9 p.m. and 10 p.m. on Feb. 19 after being shot by a USBP agent in the Skeleton Canyon area of the Peloncillo Mountains. It has not been made public how many rounds the agent fired, but four hit Cruz, according to the Pima County Office of the Medical Examiner.
The autopsy report issued Friday showed two shots struck Cruz in the face, one in the chest, and one in the stomach.
The press release from Southern Border Communities Coalition (SBCC) asserts that U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) “wasted no time in undermining the investigation, underscoring ongoing concerns about the integrity of misconduct investigations at the nation’s largest law enforcement agency.” USBP is a division of CBP, which is part of U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The press release does not specify what actions CBP officials may have undertaken to undermine the investigation, relying instead on phrases such as “deep concerns” and “multiple red flags.” But SBCC includes several misleading comments about the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office investigation of the shooting.
The incident near Skeleton Canyon began on around 9 p.m. when sensors in the mountainous area alerted USBP agents to an area where undocumented non-U.S. citizens (UNCs) may have been traveling about 30 miles north of Douglas. CCSO deputies were dispatched to a “shots fired” call around 10 p.m. with a report that it was an agent-involved shooting.
It took some time for CCSO personnel to access the crime scene due to the remote location and limited options for traversing the area at night. Yet SBCC’s press release suggests CCSO acted in a questionable manner as it “waited a day” to process the crime scene.
The group also attacks CCSO for not recovering Cruz’s body “until the following day” and not collecting crime scene evidence “until the next day.”
However, the use of “next day” appears an intentional attempt by SBCC to make it seem as if CCSO did not treat Cruz’s death with importance despite the fact CCSO had personnel on-scene within hours. In addition, the “next day” began only two hours after deputies learned of the shooting.
Nor does SBCC’s press release mention the inherent danger in trying to get recovery personnel into rugged terrain in the dark with night-time, winter temperatures.
The lack of specific details immediately after the shooting did not stop SBCC’s director, Vicki B. Gaubeca, from suggesting something inappropriate had or was occurring with CCSO’s investigation.
“So far, we have only seen problematic and questionable actions taken by officials who are investigating this incident,” the press release quotes Gaubeca as saying.
But Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for CCSO, had issued a public statement on Feb. 20 making it known the recovery of Cruz’s body could not be initiated until early that morning to protect the safety of law enforcement personnel. It was also known on Feb. 20 that the terrain prompted a call for air support from an Arizona Department of Public Safety helicopter to aid in removing Cruz’s body from the area.
Capas issued a follow-up statement on Feb. 24 providing several key pieces of information which pushed back on SBCC’s suggestive comments of errors or misconduct in how the investigation is being conducted.
“The investigation indicates that two US Border Patrol agents were in the area due to sensor hits indicating multiple persons present,” according to the Feb. 24 CCSO statement. “Both Border Patrol agents were initially on horseback, and prior to getting to the group they dismounted due to the rough terrain.”
The two agents took three suspected UNCs into custody before a fourth suspect -now known to be Cruz- was observed running downhill. One of the agents pursued, with “both the agent and the subject tripping and falling several times, before the agent was able to apprehend the fleeing subject,” Capas said.
The agent later told investigators that Cruz then struck him with a fist after which a scuffle ensued and Cruz was tackled to the ground by the agent. However, a second blow from Cruz gave Cruz an opportunity to get up from the ground, according to the agent.
When Cruz was about six feet away, he reportedly faced the agent while holding a large rock. The agent advised that he fired his weapon an unknown number of times as he was in fear for his life and safety, Capas noted.
The scene was cleared by 7 p.m. Feb. 20, less than 24 hours after the shooting. The two USBP agents along with others working in the area were interviewed separately by CCSO investigators, as were the apprehended UNCs, Capas said.
The Southern Border Communities Coalition press release has not set well with several local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who live and work within Cochise County. One of those is an USBP agent with more than 12 years working across Arizona -including time in the Douglas area.
Agent A.S. spoke with Arizona Daily Independent on Friday on the condition his name is not used as he is not authorized to speak about last month’s shooting. However, his identity and USBP employment have been verified.
Agent A.S. noted that the SBCC press release includes comments from Mark Adams, who is the coordinator of Frontera de Cristo, a Presbyterian border ministry operating in Douglas and its sister city of Agua Prieta. The agent believes the comments attributed to Adams about “cruel policies and misconduct” in connection to the deaths of UNCs impugns the reputations and morals of federal agents tasked with protecting the United States.
In addition, Agent A.S. noted neither Gaubeca nor Adams expressed any concern for the welfare of the USBP agent who encountered Cruz after Cruz illegally entered the country.
“Mark talks about cruel policies and misconduct but knows absolutely nothing of what happened out by Skeleton Canyon,” Agent A.S. said. “Where is his call for accountability on the part of those breaking our laws crossing into our country in the first place? And where the hell is his concern for the safety of federal law enforcement officers and his fellow Americans?”
Cruz was identified with the assistance of the Mexican Consulate. On Feb. 26, the Consulate issued a statement expressing “its deepest condolences to the family of the victim, while rejecting the lethal use of force in the apprehension of migrants.”
Agent A.S. pointed out that the Consulate’s statement, like the one issued by SBCC, fails to address Cruz’s criminal conduct at the time of the shooting. It also makes no mention of the assault on the federal agent.
Capas has said additional information will be released in connection with the Cruz shooting as it comes available.
