EL PASO — The FBI has opened a civil-rights probe against a Border Patrol agent who shot and killed a 15-year-old Mexican boy at the boundary with Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, a U.S. official said Friday.
Mexican prosecutors, meanwhile, are investigating the case as a homicide, raising the possibility that the agent could also face charges in Mexico.
The Border Patrol agent was trying to arrest illegal immigrants running into the United States on Monday when he fired his weapon from the U.S. side into Mexico, where people were throwing rocks toward him. A bullet killed 15-year-old Sergio Adrian Hernandez Huereka, who died in Mexican territory. It is unclear whether Hernandez was throwing rocks.
The FBI formally added the civil-rights element to its broader investigation into the alleged assault on the Border Patrol agent, said the official, who was familiar with investigation but was not authorized to speak on the subject.
If investigators determine the Border Patrol agent shot Hernandez without justification, he could be found to have violated Hernandez’s civil rights, which is a crime.
In the Mexican border state of Chihuahua, prosecutors have concluded Hernandez’s death was an intentional homicide and charges should be filed against the perpetrator.
