Border Patrol agent shot at naked, rock-throwing migrant, feds say

A U.S. Border Patrol agent opened fire on a naked undocumented immigrant who authorities say was throwing rocks at him Wednesday morning on Otay Mountain, authorities said.

The 29-year-old Mexican citizen, identified in court records as Miguel Angel Castellanos Martinez, was not struck by the agent’s gunfire, according to San Diego County sheriff’s Lt. Thomas Seiver.

The encounter happened around 7 a.m. in a remote area of Otay Mountain, where the agent found the nude man and confronted him, Seiver said in a news release. Castellanos threw multiple rocks at the agent, identified as K. Ruck, with several hitting him in the head and face, according to a criminal complaint filed in San Diego federal court Thursday.

Castellanos did not comply with the agent’s orders to show his hands, and the agent fired his duty weapon twice at the migrant while continuing to be pelted with rocks, the complaint states.

The agent delivered strikes to Castellanos to subdue him and was able to get him into handcuffs, the complaint says. Castellanos is also accused of kicking Ruck as he was being escorted off the mountain and later punching another agent who was removing his leg restraints, the complaint states.

Castellanos was evaluated for injuries by an emergency medical technician in the field and later at a hospital. He was medically cleared for booking into Border Patrol’s custody.

Seiver did not say how the man was wounded, or what kind of injuries he suffered.

Ruck was also taken to a hospital for treatment of minor injuries.

Castellanos has been charged with two counts of assault on a federal officer and one count of being a deported migrant found in the U.S. Immigration records show he was deported in 2017 to Mexico from Del Rio, Texas.

Castellanos told authorities that he lives in Tijuana and was desperate to cross the border, the complaint says. He admitted throwing rocks and fighting with the agent, and said that while it was not his intent to kill the agent, if it happened, “Oh, well,” the complaint says.

Court records do not explain why he was nude.

The Sheriff’s Department’s homicide unit, which investigates most fatal and nonfatal shootings by law enforcement officers in unincorporated parts of San Diego County, was leading the investigation. Seiver said sheriff’s detectives are coordinating with the FBI and U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility “who are conducting parallel investigations in the incident.”

Wednesday’s incident was the first local shooting involving a Border Patrol agent since the Southern Border Communities Coalition and Alliance San Diego sent a letter to Congress last month alleging that the Border Patrol has secretive “shadow police units” that work to cover up wrongdoing when agents kill someone or otherwise use force in potentially problematic ways.

A CBP spokesperson who declined to be identified acknowledged the existence of specialized investigative teams. “In the case of serious incidents involving CBP personnel, members of these teams are sometimes called upon to assist investigators from CBP (Office of Professional Responsibility) and other local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies,” the spokesperson told the Union-Tribune last month.

Earlier this month, a person from CBP told the Union-Tribune on background that the San Diego unit in question was disbanded several years ago.