MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexico protested the Monday shooting of a Mexican immigrant by a U.S. Border Patrol agent near Douglas, Arizona, saying the man was fleeing back into Mexico when he was shot in the back.
The Mexican government is considering filing a civil suit against the U.S. government for damages in the case, and demanded the U.S. Justice Department investigate the shooting, the Foreign Relations Secretariat said in a press statement.
Mexico identified the immigrant as Arturo Rosas Carmona, a native of the southern state of Tlaxcala. It said two of his brother helped the wounded man back across the fence, and that Mexican police then took him to a hospital in Agua Prieta -- across the border from Douglas -- where he was reported in stable condition.
“The Mexican government expresses its indignation for the shooting of our countryman, who was hit in the back ... as he jumped a metal fence to return to our country,’' according to the press statement.
Both the FBI and the Border Patrol were investigating the shooting.
FBI spokesman Ed Hall said the agent -- whom he would not identify -- was pursuing a group of illegal immigrants about two miles east of the Douglas. The agent detained three people, but some of the other immigrants managed to get over the fence into Mexico, Hall said.
Officials were investigating reports that the agent shot one of the people on the Mexican side of the border after he was attacked with rocks, Border Patrol spokesman Rob Daniels said.
“The Mexican consulate in Douglas has turned the case over to its lawyer, for the filing of a possible lawsuit against the U.S. federal government aimed at winning compensation for the injured Mexican,’' according to the press statement.