Mexico Outraged After Teen Killed by Border Patrol

Agent reportedly opened fire on rock-throwers
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Oct 12, 2012 8:14 AM CDT
Mexico Outraged After Teen Killed by Border Patrol
In this photo taken Aug. 9, 2012, vehicles drive along the border fence in Nogales, Mexico.   (Ross Franklin)

A US Border Patrol agent, responding to reports of suspected drug smugglers, opened fire on a group of people throwing rocks from across the Mexican border, killing a teenage boy and eliciting outrage from the Mexican government. Authorities said the agents in Nogales, Arizona, had responded to reports of suspected smugglers near the border about 11:30pm Wednesday. The agents watched the pair abandon a load of narcotics, then run back to Mexico. As the agents approached to investigate, people on the Mexican side of the border began throwing rocks and ignored orders to stop, and one agent opened fire.

The Sonora state attorney general's office in Mexico said Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez, 16, from Nogales, Sonora, was found dead at the border from gunshot wounds. Mexico's Foreign Relations Department issued a statement later saying it "forcefully condemned" the shooting and has called for an investigation. The Border Patrol would say only that one person "appeared to have been" shot by the agent. The FBI was investigating. (More Border Patrol stories.)

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