CNN
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The Texas National Guard shot a migrant in the shoulder in South Texas’s Rio Grande Valley last week, according to Kyodo News. Army Times and Texas Tribune reportsA federal law enforcement source confirmed to CNN that a migrant was shot and injured in the incident.
It is the first known incident of military personnel shooting and wounding migrants since Operation Lone Star began in Texas in March 2021, according to Army Times and the Texas Tribune.
Citing internal Texas military documents, the outlet reported that a shooting occurred in the early hours of January 15 in an area west of McAllen, Texas, where border patrol agents tracked a group of immigrants to an abandoned home.
Two Texas National Guard soldiers entered the residence, where three immigrants surrendered, and a fourth tried to escape through a window and resisted when soldiers tried to arrest him.
A struggle ensued, with guards firing once and attacking migrants, the outlet reported, citing documents.
Federal law enforcement sources said the migrant shot, a man from El Salvador, was discharged from hospital the same day with a shoulder injury. It is unclear where the migrants are at this time, according to sources.
The Army Times and the Texas Tribune reported that internal documents did not indicate whether the immigrants were armed, and it was unclear whether guard members intentionally fired their weapons.
CNN requested a copy of the incident report from the Texas Department of Defense, but was not provided any information.
“There is no information available at this time as this is an active and ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers,” the Texas Department of Defense Public Affairs Office said in an email.
According to U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Rod Kise, the shooting occurred at 4:12 a.m. CT on Jan. 15 with U.S. Border Patrol agents stationed in the Rio Grande Valley. Officials from the Texas Department of Public Safety were also present.
“The Customs and Border Protection Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating this incident,” Kise said in an email.
CNN has asked the Texas Department of Public Safety to confirm that officers were present at the time of the shooting and to comment on the incident. Erica Miller, a spokeswoman for the bureau, said the Texas Rangers were investigating the incident.
“As this is an active and ongoing investigation, we have no additional information,” Miller said in an email.
Texas Rangers is a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Operation Lone Star was started by Texas Governor Greg Abbott in response to the rise in illegal immigration. The state has allocated more than $4 billion to fund this effort. This includes deploying thousands of Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety personnel to the border with Mexico in southern Texas.
“This shooting is the result of Greg Abbott playing a political game with lives on the line through the Lone Star Project,” Rochelle Garza, president of the upcoming Texas Civil Rights Project, said in an email. “The lives of both the National Guard and immigrants seeking safety are endangered by this illegal policy. We will continue to fight the state’s attempts to seek solutions.”
The Texas Civil Rights Project is a civil rights organization of Texas attorneys and advocates.
Abbott’s public relations office did not respond to CNN’s request for comment.