AUSTIN, Texas — Two men were arrested and charged with manslaughter after an immigrant was killed and another injured when they were shot at while drinking water on the side of a road near a Texas border town.
Two 60-year-old brothers were arrested Thursday in connection with the shooting in Sierra Blanca Tuesday night, which is being investigated by the Texas Department of Public Safety. The suspects have since claimed they had been out hunting birds and hogs, though statements from witnesses contradicted their claims.
On Friday afternoon, Rep. Joaquin Castro (D-TX) called the incident a “hate crime against brown-skinned immigrants that was inspired by the invasion rhetoric” from Gov. Greg Abbott (R-TX) and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick (R-TX).
“There was no way for the killers to know who their victims were or what their legal status was,” Castro said in a statement. “The division and fear that Greg Abbott and his fellow bigots have created has made Texas a more dangerous place for all Hispanics.”
He added: “National leaders on both sides of the aisle need to condemn the rhetoric that inspired this attack, and Texas authorities must swiftly prosecute this crime as murder.”
The incident comes at a moment when Republicans and border residents have voiced concern that the Biden administration does not care about record high numbers of illegal immigrants across the southern border.
“The preliminary investigation shows that a truck with two men inside pulled over and shot at a group [of] illegal immigrants standing alongside the road getting water,” DPS said in a statement provided to the Washington Examiner. “One male immigrant was shot and killed. A female immigrant was also shot and is now recovering at Del Sol hospital in El Paso.”
One of the suspects is a warden at a nearby, privately run immigrant detention facility.
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Court documents filed Thursday state that the shooting took place 4 miles south of the Sierra Blanca exit on Interstate 10, which connects El Paso to San Antonio.
“On Sept. 29, two suspects were taken into custody and charged with manslaughter. The FBI, United States Border Patrol, and Homeland Security Investigations are assisting. As this is an active and ongoing investigation by the Texas Rangers,” DPS said.
At least four immigrants were walking on FM 1111, approximately 15 miles from the U.S.-Mexico border, around 7 p.m. local time and had stopped to drink water from a tank on the side of the road, the affidavits state.
Upon hearing a truck approaching, the group tried to hide. The truck drove toward the group and then backed up before at least one man got out. Immigrants told federal investigators that one man yelled out in Spanish for the group to “come out,” adding profanities to his demand. At one point, the driver revved the engine. The group came out of the brush, they said, because they thought the truck had driven away.
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The driver leaned on the truck’s hood and shot twice at the group and then got back into the truck and drove away. One person was struck in the head and killed. A woman was shot in the stomach.
Nearby Border Patrol agents assisted the Hudspeth County Sheriff’s Department in locating the truck used during the shooting.
Authorities found the injured woman roughly two hours after the attack. She was taken to Del Sol Hospital in El Paso.
The brothers, the Sheppards, were taken into custody and remain in jail in El Paso. The suspects told investigators that they had been driving around hunting and looking for animals, according to the affidavit. The men initially stated they had been looking for ducks and pivoted to searching for birds before finally looking for javelinas. Javelinas are similar-looking to hogs.
Mark Sheppard said they thought they had seen a javelina and stopped the truck. His brother stopped the truck and used his shotgun to fire two rounds toward what he thought was an animal. Neither of the men went to check if they had struck anything and denied having yelled after exiting the truck. They drove away and attended a water board meeting.
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Mike Sheppard was identified by the News-Express as the warden of the West Texas Detention Center, which is operated by LaSalle Corrections, a private company that is contracted by Immigration and Customs Enforcement to run immigration jails nationwide.
A spokesman for LaSalle Corrections said Sheppard was no longer employed by the company.
Sheppard was named in an egregious 2018 report that found officials at the Sierra Blanca jail had abused 80 men in detention. Over the course of a week, the workers beat, taunted, and sexually abused the men under Sheppard’s leadership.
Sheppard was specifically accused of punching and kicking a man as he was handcuffed and in solitary confinement, the Intercept reported.
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Prior to that incident, ICE had investigated how detainees were forced to use plastic bags for toilets and killed a rattlesnake in their sleeping quarters because staff would not take action.
