U.S. Border Patrol Agent Shoots and Kills 20-Year-Old Immigrant Woman in Texas

The incident is being investigated by the FBI.

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed a 20-year-old unarmed Guatemalan woman in Rio Bravo, Texas on Wednesday. Her name was Claudia Patricia Gómez González. 

According to CNN, agents responded to reports of illegal activity when they discovered a group of undocumented immigrants. When the man failed to properly apprehend the group, who allegedly attempted to fight him, he fired a round into González’s head and killed her. 

Rio Bravo Fire & Rescue Fire Chief Juan C. Gonzalez claimed she still had a pulse when his team arrived on site, but it ceased before they could gather the necessary supplies. They performed CPR for eight minutes before EMTs arrived, who then pronounced her dead.

A Facebook video shows a bystander screaming at the agent in question, demanding to know why the agent resorted to such violent, lethal force. “Why are you mistreating them? Why are you mistreating them? Why did you [shoot] at the girl? You killed her,” she yelled. “He killed the girl. She’s laying there and she’s dead.”

At this time, the agent’s identity is yet to be disclosed, but the FBI and Texas Rangers are investigating the incident. The FBI will be interviewing the three undocumented persons taken into custody on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the Texan ACLU branch is calling for mandatory body cameras to be implemented on all border agents.

“While we do not yet have all the facts in this case, Border Patrol’s history of violence against immigrants requires us to scrutinize every incident involving lethal force closely,” Astrid Dominguez, ACLU director of the branch’s Border Rights Center. 

“We call on the Texas Rangers and the FBI to conduct their investigation thoroughly and transparently, and we demand that Border Patrol expand its use of body cameras to include each and every one of its agents in the field,” Dominguez said.

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