Note: We in no way responsible for the "writing". "AGENTS USED
BEANBAGS AGAINST MIGRANTS, WHO REPLIED WITH GUNFIRE"
Records detail deadly Border Patrol shooting in Arizona
Mar. 3, 2011 02:20 PM
Associated Press
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2011/03/03/20110303arizona-
border-agent-death-details-records.html
TUCSON - Records show Border Patrol agents shot beanbags at a group
of suspected bandits in southern Arizona before the men returned fire
and killed an agent late last year.
The Arizona Daily Star says it obtained documents from the case that
were filed in U.S. District Court in Tucson.
The documents provide the most detailed version yet of what happened
in the Dec. 14 gun battle northwest of Nogales. The documents say
the group of illegal border entrants refused commands to drop their
weapons after agents confronted them.
Two agents fired beanbags at the migrants, who responded with
gunfire. Two agents returned fire, but agent Brian Terry was mortally
wounded in the shootout.
Border Patrol officials declined to answer questions about protocol
for use of force, citing the ongoing investigation.
FILES ADD SOME CLARITY TO TERRY'S DEATH; AGENTS USED BEANBAGS AGAINST
MIGRANTS, WHO REPLIED WITH GUNFIRE
Records show agents fired beanbags in fatal border gunfight
Brady McCombs Arizona Daily Star | Posted: Thursday, March 3, 2011
12:00 am
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/
article_681d29cf-845a-5aea-9f34-3837d70b8a31.html
Border Patrol agents shot beanbags at a group of suspected bandits
before the men returned fire during a confrontation in a remote
canyon, killing agent Brian Terry with a single gunshot, records show.
And an illegal immigrant wounded in the gunbattle who is now the only
person in custody linked to the slaying contends he never fired a
shot, according to FBI search warrant requests filed in the U.S.
District Court in Tucson.
The documents provide the most detailed version yet of what happened
in the deadly gunbattle Dec. 14 in Peck Canyon, northwest of Nogales.
The documents say the group of illegal border entrants refused
commands to drop their weapons after agents confronted them at about
11:15 p.m. Two agents fired beanbags at the migrants, who responded
with gunfire. Two agents returned fire, one with a long gun and one
with a pistol, but Terry was mortally wounded in the gunfight.
Border Patrol officials declined to answer questions about protocol
for use of force, citing the ongoing investigation.
But Terry's brother, Kent Terry, said the other agents who were there
that night told him that they were instructed to use the non-lethal
beanbags first. It's a policy that doesn't make sense to Kent Terry.
"You go up against a bandit crew that is carrying AKs, and you walk
out there with guns loaded with beanbags - I don't get it," Terry
said in a phone interview from Michigan. "It's like going to the
Iraqi war with one knife. It boggles my mind. ... These guys (Border
Patrol agents) are professionals; they should be able to use their
judgment call on their own."
On the night of the deadly encounter, agents were trying to apprehend
at least five suspected illegal immigrants. One agent, using thermal
binoculars, spotted two men carrying rifles. When the group came
close, at least one agent identified himself as police and ordered
the men to drop their weapons.
Here's how the rest of the events are described in the FBI document:
"When the suspected aliens did not drop their weapons, two Border
Patrol agents deployed 'less than lethal' beanbags at the suspected
aliens. At this time, at least one of the suspected aliens fired at
the Border Patrol agents. Two Border Patrol agents returned fire, one
with his long gun and one with his pistol.
"Border Patrol agent Brian Terry was shot with one bullet and died
shortly after. One of the suspected illegal aliens, later identified
as Manuel Osorio-Arellanes, was also shot."
The search warrants were requested to examine fingerprints and a hair
sample from Osorio-Arellanes, who was one of four men arrested that
night near the shooting scene. The other three arrested, illegal
immigrants from Mexico, have been cleared in connection with the
crime and deported back to their home countries.
Osorio-Arellanes has not been charged in connection with the fatal
shooting. He has been charged only with illegal re-entry after
deportation and is awaiting a May 10 trial. The FBI document
represents the first time his name has been included in a public
document related to the shooting.
Two days after the shooting, Osorio-Arellanes agreed to talk to FBI
agents. He was traveling with four others that night, all of whom
were armed, Osorio-Arellanes told investigators, according to the
document.
"Osorio-Arellanes stated that he had raised his weapon towards the
Border Patrol agents, but he did not fire because he realized that
they were Border Patrol agents," the search warrant says. "At this
time, he was shot."
Two firearms were recovered at the scene that are believed to belong
to the suspects, the documents say. Officials were planning to take
Osorio-Arellanes' fingerprints to compare with those found on the two
weapons.
Officials also recovered five backpacks, three gloves, two sweat
shirts, a pullover, a jacket, a knit hat, a baseball cap and a razor.
The summary provided in the search warrants is only a snapshot and
does not include all facts known by investigators, FBI agents wrote
in the three separate search-warrant requests filed in U.S. District
Court in late December.
Terry, 40, of Michigan, was a member of a specially trained tactical
unit known as Bortac. On the night of the shooting, Terry and his
crew were targeting a "rip crew" that robbed and assaulted drug
runners and illegal immigrants, said Homeland Security Secretary
Janet Napolitano.
This week, the Terry family received the autopsy report, which shows
that Terry was shot once in the lower back, about 29 inches down from
the right shoulder, Kent Terry said. Brian Terry was trying to turn,
likely for cover, when he was shot, Kent Terry said. The bullet found
inside his body was one used with AK-47s, he said.
The report gave the family some closure, and it erased any doubt
about friendly fire being a possibility in the fatal shooting,
because agents don't use AK-47s, Kent Terry said. The FBI announced
in mid-February that it had ruled out friendly fire, but Kent Terry
remained skeptical because he hadn't seen the autopsy.
The Terry family remains upset about allegations that the Bureau of
Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives allowed a gun smuggler it
was investigating to purchase and smuggle into Mexico the weapons
used in the shootout in which Terry died. The Justice Department has
denied the allegations, but U.S. Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa,
continues to insist on the validity of the claims.
"Your government is telling you to use beanbags, but you are selling
guns back to the Mexicans," Kent Terry said. "There's a lot of
questions that they haven't answered."
The FBI investigation remains ongoing, said agency spokesman Manuel
Johnson. No arrests have been made. The U.S. Attorney's Office in
Arizona said investigators and prosecutors aim to bring criminal
charges against the people responsible for Brian Terry's murder.
Terry, 40, was the 10th agent to die on duty in the Border Patrol's
Tucson Sector since 1926 and the first agent shot to death since
1998. Terry was buried in his hometown of Detroit on Dec. 22, and
hundreds attended his memorial service January in Tucson.
Contact reporter Brady McCombs at 573-4213 or bmccombs@azstarnet.com.
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