SAN DIEGO — A U.S. Border Patrol agent opened fire on a naked man who was allegedly throwing rocks at him Wednesday morning on Otay Mountain, authorities said.
The 29-year-old man was not struck by the agent's gunfire, according to San Diego sheriff's Lt. Thomas Seiver.
It happened around 7 a.m. Wednesday in a remote area of Otay Mountain, where the agent found the allegedly nude man and confronted him, Seiver said in a news release. The man allegedly hit the agent with multiple rocks he threw at him, including at least once in the head.
During the encounter, the agent fired his gun at the man, but did not strike him, according to Seiver. Agents then took the man into custody, and both he and the agent were taken to hospitals for treatment of minor injuries.
Seiver did not say how the man — whose name was not released — was wounded, or what kind of injuries he suffered. As of Wednesday night, the man was in Border Patrol custody and expecting to face federal charges, according to the sheriff's lieutenant, who did not elaborate on the charges the man is likely to face.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department's homicide unit, which investigates most fatal and non-fatal shootings by law enforcement officers in unincorporated parts of the 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 claimed to the Union-Tribune on background that the San Diego unit in question was disbanded several years ago.
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