Marines failed to render aid in border shooting

Rangers' probe turns up questions in teen's death

By Douglas Holt / The Dallas Morning News

EL PASO After fatally shooting a teenager last month on the
TexasMexico border, a team of U.S. Marines failed to render first aid
or even to call for emergency medical help, a Texas Rangers investigator
said Thursday.

For 22 minutes, Ezequiel Hernandez, a softspoken 18yearold who had
been herding his family's goats, lay bleeding while the Marines, who
were on an antidrug surveillance mission, took no action to help other
than to call for the U.S. Border Patrol.

"Apparently the Marines did not treat him until the responding Border
Patrol agents got there and called for an ambulance," said Sgt. David
Duncan, head of an investigation into the May 20 shooting of Mr.
Hernandez.

The Marines have said that the team leader fired one M16 round in
selfdefense after Mr. Hernandez fired on the team with a .22caliber
rifle. Asked Thursday about the lack of first aid or other assistance,
Joint Task Force 6 spokeswoman Maureen Bossch said she had "no new
information" on the shooting. The El Pasobased task force coordinates
U.S. military missions to assist law enforcement agencies in antidrug
efforts.

Mr. Hernandez was shot in the chest and suffered massive internal
bleeding, the Rangers have said. Authorities have not said how long he
lived after the shooting or whether first aid or a faster response would
have saved his life, but several law enforcement officials and observers
said offering first aid is standard procedure after a shooting.

"Once you've stopped the threat, you immediately go into assistance
mode," said Joseph Harris, an assistant U.S. Border Patrol chief based
in Marfa. "That would be a commonsense rule. There would be no
question; that's a human being."

Randy Garner, assistant professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston
State University in Huntsville, said: "Certainly after the person ceases
to be a threat, the duty falls upon the law enforcement officer to take
some steps to render aid."

It appears clear that the Marines knew they had shot a man, because they
had reported there was a "man down," Sgt. Duncan said.

Asked what exactly the Marines did after he was shot, he said: "The
soldiers . . . they approached the guy. That's really as far as I can
go."

Mr. Hernandez was shot at 6:27 p.m. A helicopter stationed 20 miles
away at the Presidio airport for the purpose of responding to any
medical emergency involving the Marines was not summoned until 6:49
p.m. That was about two minutes after Border Patrol agents arrived, Sgt.
Duncan said.

By law, the military cannot make arrests or conduct searches, but it is
allowed to be the "eyes and ears" of law enforcement agencies.

Border rights advocates called the military team's inaction after the
Hernandez shooting appalling, particularly since the unit included a
member trained as an emergency medic a standard precaution intended to
protect the soldiers.

"It gets worse and worse," said Suzan Kern, coordinator of the El
Pasobased Border Rights Coalition. "You have to wonder about a
coverup, and you have to wonder about the humanity of these people."

At noon Friday, the coalition plans a protest at the federal building in
El Paso to call for a removal of military troops from the border.

Diana Valenzuela, 45, a resident of Mr. Hernandez's hometown of Redford,
said the news only added to the sadness and anger weighing on the tiny
farming community near Big Bend.

"It's just so sad to think about him laying there," she said. "They
didn't wait in shooting him, why did they wait in giving him aid? From
the way everything sounds, they wanted him to die."

The latest revelation comes as Texas authorities are seeking a fuller
accounting of the shooting from the military.

The Rangers are the lead investigative agency preparing a report for
District Attorney Albert Valadez, an apparent tug of war has taken place
between the Rangers and the military.

The Rangers, for example, had been told the four Marines in the unit
would remain in Texas for seven days after the shooting, Sgt. Duncan
said Thursday. Investigators had hoped to bring the team to the scene
for a videotaped reenactment.

But four days after the shooting, they were sent back to Camp Pendleton,
Calif.

Subpoenas have been issued for Joint Task Force 6 officials, including a
lieutenant colonel who headed the agency's internal investigation, Sgt.
Duncan said. The Rangers also have demanded communications records
during and after the shooting.

A request to serve the subpoenas has been made at the provost marshal's
office in Fort Bliss, where the task force is based, Sgt. Duncan said.
But, he said, the subpoenas had not been served.

Ms. Bossch denied that the military was dragging its feet in getting the
subpoenas served.

"I know that subpoenas can be served on post," she said. "There's no
exemption. The military's not trying to hide from getting subpoenas.
We're cooperating here."

Ms. Bossch said the military would not have any further comment at this
time.

Previously, the military has refused to comment on key points that the
Rangers' investigation has disputed, such as whether Mr. Hernandez was
pointing his rifle at the Marines when he was shot. The Marines said
after the shooting that Mr. Hernandez had fired his weapon twice and was
preparing to shoot a third time. The Rangers have said that preliminary
evidence shows that Mr. Hernandez' rifle was pointed away from the
Marines when he was shot.

The Rangers have said that, after Mr. Hernandez fired his rifle, the
Marines following him for 700 feet before he was shot.

"It's totally inappropriate for anyone involved in the whole
investigation law enforcement or military to comment on the
specifics until the final investigation is released," Ms. Bossch said.