SHOOTING PROBE STILL DEVOID OF SOLUTIONS

How many people and members of Congress will have to find fault with the
federal investigation of the border shooting death of a 19-year-old
goatherd before there is a remedy?

U.S. Rep. Lamar Smith, R- San Antonio, and chairman of the House
immigration subcommittee, jumped into the fray shortly after the May 20,
1997, shooting of Redford resident Ezequiel Hernandez Jr.

The teen was shot by a Marine patrolling the border with an anti-drug unit.

After an 18-month inquiry, Smith's subcommittee was left with many of the
same questions that many observers, including this newspaper, have put to
officials overseeing the Marines' actions.

Principally, the Justice and Defense departments have failed to address
policy questions involving the training and supervision of soldiers
assigned to such patrols.

Neither federal nor state grand juries returned indictments against the
four Marines who were part of the patrol that fateful day in May. But that
doesn't mean there isn't a place to lay blame. There are many.

The Marine Corps investigation, for example, cited troops' lack of training
for domestic operations and resulted in reprimands of supervisory personnel.

The Marines' review also criticized apparently poor radio communication
between U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service officials in Marfa and
the patrol they were supervising 70 miles away on the border, near
Hernandez's home.

Further, both Smith and retired Marine Maj. Gen. John T. Coyne, who
conducted the Marine review, found that the border mission was seen by
military commanders mainly as a training exercise, with apparent little
regard or knowledge about the local border scene.

Smith said the Justice and Defense departments "simply did not do their job."

That has long been apparent. The realization won't bring Hernandez back to
his family. Neither will it prevent future tragedies if the concerns are
not addressed.