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(Trends Wide) — The Texas National Guardsman who shot an immigrant during a struggle in January drew his pistol and shifted it from his right hand to his left before the firearm discharged, hitting the immigrant in the shoulder, according to his sworn declaration.
In the statement obtained by Trends Wide through an information request, the National Guardsman described the altercation with the immigrant.
“Under threat of serious bodily injury, I drew my M17 pistol to show I was armed, but he continued to deliver bodily blows toward my torso,” the National Guardsman’s affidavit reads. “I shifted my M17 from my right hand to my left in the ‘ready low’ position, to have more positive control over him and to keep some distance between me and him, but he continued to struggle with me and I could feel him trying to bring me to the ground with him. “.
The shooting occurred in the early morning hours of January 15 in the Rio Grande Valley in South Texas, according to the incident report. At that time, Border Patrol requested the help of the Texas National Guard in searching for immigrants who had breached the border wall, according to the National Guardsman’s affidavit.
This was the first known incident in which a service member shoots and wounds an immigrant since Texas’ Operation Lone Star began in March 2021, Trends Wide previously reported.
The guardsman’s name is redacted, but the incident report indicates the Caucasian man had secret security clearance and was assigned to D Company, 3rd Battalion, 141st Infantry Regiment. In his affidavit, he says he and his partner followed a Border Patrol agent, with a K-9, to an abandoned house and yelled at the immigrants in both Spanish and English to “stop and turn yourself in.”
He says that with the help of a headlamp he saw an individual trying to get out of a window and approached him.
The immigrant then began to beat him, the affidavit says. In the fray, the National Guardsman was trying to keep his balance, he says, while the immigrant struck his front chest plate.
“While holding him with my left hand I touched my holster to see if my M17 was still there, but he tried to grab my wrist so I stepped back while still holding him with one hand,” the statement read.
The National Guardsman drew his weapon to show he was armed, lost his balance, fell backward, and the immigrant fell on top of him, according to the affidavit.
“During the commotion, my M17 accidentally discharged a round. I don’t know if it was me or the immigrant who caused the shot. I got to my knees as soon as possible and immediately holstered the pistol. With my other hand I held the immigrant, asked if he was okay and I started to check if I had received any impact,” the statement continued.
The immigrant who was shot is a man from El Salvador who was not identified by authorities, Trends Wide previously reported. He was shot in the shoulder and was released from the hospital the same day.
Through an information request, Trends Wide obtained copies of the incident report, the use-of-force policy, affidavits from two National Guardsmen, the policy regarding service members providing emergency aid to immigrants, and policy regarding the ability and authority of a service member to apprehend or detain immigrants.
The second service member’s affidavit states that they were inside the abandoned house with their partner when they heard “a shot.”
“When I arrive to [nombre] he had his back to him with the immigrant on top and [le] I asked and asked if they were okay,” the affidavit reads.
The National Guard is authorized to use the ‘minimum force necessary’
Trends Wide also obtained a copy of the policy regarding the National Guard’s ability and authority to apprehend or detain immigrants.
A portion of the policy is redacted, but the unredacted portion states that service members “are authorized to use the minimum force necessary to apprehend or detain” immigrants and are authorized to do so when directed “by a law enforcement officer.” Law (LEO)) or in response to LEO requests for assistance.
The documents obtained by Trends Wide do not indicate that the immigrant was armed. According to the use-of-force policy obtained by Trends Wide, National Guardsmen may use “only the MINIMUM level of force necessary to control the situation and to defend themselves or others,” and “discharging a weapon is always force.” mortal”.
The account of the service member whose weapon was discharged does not explain how and when the safety switch on the weapon was actuated.
“The M-17 is a military version of the SIG Sauer P320 equipped with a safety mechanism that the shooter must manually deactivate with their thumb before the weapon can fire,” said Josh Campbell, a Trends Wide security correspondent and former officer. special supervisor of the FBI. “In this case, only one of two things could have happened for the gun to fire: either the safety was accidentally released during the physical altercation, or the guard purposely placed his gun in the ready-to-fire position.”
“The ‘minimum’ force authorized to detain someone can quickly escalate to deadly force if a guard reasonably believes that an individual poses an imminent threat of death or serious injury,” Campbell said. “But Texas National Guard policy indicates that a guard must exhaust all other available means to control a situation before resorting to deadly force.” “Under agency protocols, simply being in a physical fight with someone is not a sufficient justification to shoot them,” she explained.
The Texas Rangers, a division of the Texas Department of Public Safety, are investigating the case. Trends Wide has contacted the agency for an update on the investigation and has not received an immediate response.
Governor Greg Abbott launched Operation Lone Star in response to the rise in undocumented immigration. The state has committed more than $4 billion to fund this effort, which includes the deployment of thousands of Texas National Guardsmen and Texas Department of Public Safety agents to the Texas-Mexico border.
