Antonio Elena Rodriguez was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent.By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com
Newly released video shows a Border Patrol agent firing 13 of 16 shots at a 16-year-old Mexican while he was lying facedown on the ground dying.
The video was played during a U.S. District Court hearing Monday for Border Patrol Agent Lonnie Swartz, who fired 16 shots through the border fence in Nogales, Ariz., at Antonio Elena Rodriguez, who was on the Mexican side, the Arizona Republic first reported.
Rodriguez died.
Swartz, who was on the scene responding to a smuggling incident, appeared to be firing his gun while Rodriguez was lying on the ground and barely moving.
Rodriguez was shot in the head back and arms while he was on the ground, expert witness James Tavernetti said.
Swartz, who has pleaded not guilty to a charge of second-degree murder, said he fired his weapon in response to people throwing rocks at him from the Mexican side of the border.
Swartz’s trial is scheduled for October.
His attorneys are asking a judge to prevent the video from being shown during the trial because, they argue, the video evidence is unreliable. District Judge Raner Collins has not made a decision yet.
