2 dead after trooper in helicopter fires at vehicle
LA JOYA, Texas (AP) — A Texas state trooper who fired on a pickup truck during a deadly chase through the desert was trying to disable the vehicle and suspected it was being used to smuggle drugs, authorities said Friday.
The disclosure came a day after the incident left two people dead and two wounded on an isolated gravel road near the town of La Joya, just north of the Mexico border.
The pickup truck was first encountered Thursday by state game wardens, who believed it was occupied by illegal immigrants. When the driver refused to stop, the game wardens radioed for help, and a state police helicopter with a sharpshooter was the first to respond, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesman Mike Cox.
In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety said the truck appeared to be a carrying a "typical covered drug load" on its bed and was travelling at reckless speeds.
After the shots were fired, the truck stopped. Seven Guatemalans were arrested, and no drugs were found.
The nationalities of the dead and of an eighth person arrested later were not immediately released.
The officer who fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in fatal shootings.
In recent years, Texas state police have increased their presence in the border area, deploying more agents, more helicopters and more boats to patrol the Rio Grande.
Troopers are regularly involved in high-speed pursuits, often chasing drug smugglers into the river and back to Mexico.
Agency Director Stephen McCraw has said state police were pushed into that role because the federal government's efforts to secure the border have been insufficient.
Diplomats quickly began their own investigation into the chase.
Rita Claverie, Guatemala's deputy minister of foreign relations, said her government will demand an explanation from the U.S.
"This incident surprises us because we had never seen force being used from a helicopter. ... What had happened in the past were car pursuits and, in some cases, the shooting of undocumented persons," Claverie said.
Humberto Palacios head of protection and investigations at the Guatemalan consulate in McAllen, said the consulate was looking into the matter and would ask authorities to establish what happened.
The disclosure came a day after the incident left two people dead and two wounded on an isolated gravel road near the town of La Joya, just north of the Mexico border.
The pickup truck was first encountered Thursday by state game wardens, who believed it was occupied by illegal immigrants. When the driver refused to stop, the game wardens radioed for help, and a state police helicopter with a sharpshooter was the first to respond, according to Texas Parks and Wildlife Department spokesman Mike Cox.
In a statement, the Texas Department of Public Safety said the truck appeared to be a carrying a "typical covered drug load" on its bed and was travelling at reckless speeds.
After the shots were fired, the truck stopped. Seven Guatemalans were arrested, and no drugs were found.
The nationalities of the dead and of an eighth person arrested later were not immediately released.
The officer who fired the shots has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in fatal shootings.
In recent years, Texas state police have increased their presence in the border area, deploying more agents, more helicopters and more boats to patrol the Rio Grande.
Troopers are regularly involved in high-speed pursuits, often chasing drug smugglers into the river and back to Mexico.
Agency Director Stephen McCraw has said state police were pushed into that role because the federal government's efforts to secure the border have been insufficient.
Diplomats quickly began their own investigation into the chase.
Rita Claverie, Guatemala's deputy minister of foreign relations, said her government will demand an explanation from the U.S.
"This incident surprises us because we had never seen force being used from a helicopter. ... What had happened in the past were car pursuits and, in some cases, the shooting of undocumented persons," Claverie said.
Humberto Palacios head of protection and investigations at the Guatemalan consulate in McAllen, said the consulate was looking into the matter and would ask authorities to establish what happened.
"her government will demand an explanation from the U.S."Â We should demand an explanation from their government as well.
Solution would have been to have stopped. Â Simple.
I deplore the suggestion that so-called "undocumented persons" (aka illegal aliens) somehow merit immunity from actions of law enforcement to which U.S. citizens would be subject.
The war on drugs corrupts all.
Rita Claverie, Guatemala's deputy minister of foreign relations, said her government will demand an explanation from the U.S."This incident surprises us because we had never seen force being used from a helicopter. ... What had happened in the past were car pursuits and, in some cases, the shooting of undocumented persons," Claverie said.
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I for one am EXTREMELY ecstatic about this! these illegal pieces of crap come into our country and they think they deserve rights?! not if they come in here un-rightfully! hopefully this will teach them, "don't come into our country and break our laws if you want to live" and maybe they'll be less urged to come over here.
 @DylanJ How did you EARN your citizenship?
I believe every single person that decides to get in a high speed chase has immediately chosen to kill people, and should be gunned down, but only if there is certainty there are no children in the vehicle.  That solves 2 problems.  #1.  It vastly decreases the odds that a person will be killed by the fleeing driver.  #2.  If that penalty was out there, we would virtually never see a high speed chase again.  Once a person decides to engage in the chase, the only life that  matters are the innocent motorists and pedestrians.
 @Eichler4 Tell that to the chaser.
I 'd like to ask Guatemala's deputy minister of foreign relations what their citizens were doing trying to sneak into our country?
only a third world country incapable of managing its own borders would question how some states protect theirs....almost said how the Federal  govt protects our borders, but that would be a very confusing statement given how the Rookie in Chief has opened up illegal immigration in hopes of gaining voters.
wow. Â for shame. Â snuffing Guatemalans that were looking for a better life. Â I thought back to when we snuffed them in their own country, hardly a generation ago (google: CIA & rios montt)
Do not try and out run the cops. If Washington did it more often people would not run.
What happened was they didn't hear "STOP OR I WILL SHOOT". About time they use that action more to convince that if they bring their damn drugs here they had better be ready to stop or be shot. Enough if these high speed chases and people getting hurt when these dam fools try to run back to Mexico. If we don't start using those kinds of tactic's they will continue increasing their loads and the mayhem will continue.
 @LongBeachBumÂ
Don't you mean..."Detener o dispararé"Â
 @LongBeachBum Shall we do this to our own citizens as well? You  don't care because you, like most Americans, think these people are little more then a dirt race that needs to stay on poverty for all eternity. The only time a "law enforcement" person should ever fire his/her weapon is if their life or an innocent life is in danger. Suspected of drug running yet no drugs were found. The shooter and the pilot of the helicopter should be charged with murder. Hands down.
@Barlion No, the idiots driving should have just FREAKING STOPPED. I say good riddance, heave their carcasses back across the border with a Trebucket.
To me this is assinine. What if they are wrong? What if there were small children in that truck? I know it is TX and they think they can do anything they want but this is stupid, against the laws and the innocent people that live there. What if it were a kidnapping and you killed the hostage. So many what if's and still , you wanted to kill, kill kill. Shame on you idiots that think this is great. Think, that is why God gave you a brain. Being in this country illegally is a misdomenor, not a death penalty. As far as drugs, yah, they are pissing me off but this isn't the case. This is a case of too many questions and not enough right answers.
 @greenriverkate You don't know what the case is actually; there may have been drugs dropped off before the truck was followed, there are almost endless possibilities. Fact is, they shouldn't have run from the police, and no matter what they were doing, they would most likely still be alive.
 @greenriverkate Oh goodie, another sob sister that is crying "oh gee, they were only bringing drugs in". How many people do those damn drugs kill? How many people are being killed selling or buying them? How many innocent people are being killed by those at one end of the drug trade? We need a "take no prisoners" attitude to stop them before they cross the border.
 @LongBeachBum  @greenriverkate If this country was really serious about all the illegal drug trade (make that US citizens buying and supporting the drug trade) we would either make drugs legal and regulated or do a lot better job at helping people get off them or not get on them in the first place.
I like Texas, they do not screw around down there!
Good!
If you are illegally crossing our border, then you eiter need to stop for the authorities, or expect to get shot/
I don't condone running from the cops but shooting from the air to kill? I thought officers are only supposed to fire upon suspects if the officers or civilians lives are in danger.
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I was confused about this story given the lack of information provided so I Googled it. According to another site, the truck was suspected of being filled with illegal immigrants making a run for it. It was the Dept of Public Safety that opened fire on the vehicle, which is the only agency in the region that is permitted to shoot upon vehicle.
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I am 100% against illegals being in this country (they're sucking us dry) however that doesn't seem like a valid reason to shoot and kill.
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The other story: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/not-an-excuse-for-deadly-force-tx-trooper-kills-2-during-car-chase-with-vehicle-suspected-of-carrying-illegals/
@Tattooed_Angel Correct. Military assault tactics against civilians is overkill. It is just plain wrong.
 @Tattooed_Angel DPS = State Police in Texas
Nice shooting. Having been a crew chief on Blackhawks in the Army, hitting a moving target from an aircraft is difficult. Difficult, but fun.
 @JeepRex killing people = fun, huh? I'm thinking you were never actually in the military, and most certainly never in actual combat.
Sounds a lot like Seattle.
Should never run from the police - don't support that for one second.
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Firing from the air as an "enforcement action," is a pretty scary application of the law if you stop, pause and think about the implications it sets. With the employment of drones you start riding a very fine line of having armed officers, and having armed drones/helicopters.
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There were cautionary tales about this going back to the 80's (Blue Thunder) and where does the line get drawn on aerial law enforcement.
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Again, not endorsing running from the law - but if these were mere poachers being chased by a game warden -- the story starts to fall apart.
@Howard Beale The police are not using armed drones.
 @what?  @Howard YET
 @what?  @Howard I know that - but if we start having armed officers engaging suspects from the air, isn't the next logical jump having armed helicopters, and then the next jump being armed drones.
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It's a slippery slope - I for one do not want gunships in the hands of regular police forces, and question why many police forces, outside of large metro areas need tanks and APCs.
Shot while trying to escape.
 @shlibotnik The Gestapo used that excuse - a lot.
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Texas, where the Texas Troopers don't fire warning shots and stop means stop....
 @Windowseat Budget cuts: "Due to budget cuts and the cost of ammunition, we will no longer be firing warning shots"
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 @Gino Look "Gino", if you would actually READ the article instead of just spouting off from your prejudices and Crystal Vision, you would know there were NO DRUGS involved, and that there is NO MENTION of an actual threat upon any law enforcement officer or anyone else: the trooper in the helicopter fired to "disable the truck" - which is almost certainly a violation of department guidelines for use of deadly force. (It certainly would be here - but Texas seems to run on rules more aligned with Nazi Germany, the U.S.S.R. or old Rome.)
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This appears to have been simply an EXECUTION.
@Gino - right.... GAME WARDEN pursuit. They were probably guilty of poaching.
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Great decision to throw 'mexican' into the issue. Pathetic.
 @FormerMarineSgt  WADR- Have you looked at the map to see where La Joya Texas is?
@FormerMarineSgt - not sure if it's the same in TX as it is in WA, but here in WA, game wardens are simply police officers that have an emphasis on wildlife laws. Â In WA, they are fully commissioned police officers that enforce every law, not just game laws, despite being poked fun at by other officers calling them "Critter Cops." Â They often are the ones that stumble upon grow operations and meth labs in the woods. Â So, it's hard to say why they were pursuing these folks with the information given. Â
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And, given the location of McAllen, TX, it isn't really too big a leap to wonder if they were illegals. Â One shouldn't assume they are, but it certainly is a plausible scenario.
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 But don't you know - Texas has nothing but Republican voting illegal aliens from border to border.  ;-)
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I read it on the Internets - so it must be true.
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I have a bit of a problem shooting at a vehicle from the air, but I was not there. It does not say what the driver was being chased for. Murder, armed robbery, and heading for the border? Or speeding with no seat belts? Why was he being chased by a game warden? Inquiring minds want to know!
@Hagar Unfortunately, follow on information to most news stories is not broadly disseminated. The only information news outlets are interested in is the initial sensational headline.
I always thought firing a gun from an aircraft was a federal crime.
 @JLS1950 I believe firing at an aircraft is a federal crime punishable by...well... return fire
 @Gino It says the trooper "was trying to disable the vehicle and suspected it was being used to smuggle drugs". There is no mention that occupants of the truck were firing at the helicopter at all. If the occupants of the truck were not firing, then even a trooper ON THE GROUND would be without just cause to fire. That tiny little fact pretty automatically turns this into an unjustified killing unless the trooper had VERY clear reason to believe that someone in that truck was an actual threat to the chopper.
 @JLS1950 Law enforcement is exempt. New laws permit hunting wild hogs from aircraft in Texas as well. That is my dream vacation.... Feral hogs and a belt fed weapon out the side of a Huey.
@JLS1950 Apparently not in Texas
Not much restraint on the officer's part..... Texas is and always will be tough on crime. I agree don't run from police unless you're prepared to go the distance.
Now... I had a friend who owned one of those types of trucks before, same body style and everything. HOW in the world did they fit 9 people in it? Joy-riding in the back or something? Not the smartest move when involving a high-speed chase.. but I guess if you're running from the police, they're not the smartest as it stands. Maybe the 7 that survived will take a lesson learned from all of this.