Speaking of Illegals..Four Dead in Shootings Near Casa Grande, Ariz.
Tuesday, November 04, 2003
foxnews.com
CASA GRANDE, Ariz. — Immigrant smugglers opened fire on a rival group along a highway Tuesday, killing four people and wounding five, authorities said. Four suspects were later arrested in the desert.
Smugglers in a van chased down a pickup and SUV carrying other smugglers and illegal immigrants, said Pinal County Sheriff Roger Vanderpool.
"This was clearly a retaliation to send a message," Vanderpool said. One group had taken the other group's human cargo earlier, he said. He didn't have further details late Tuesday.
Highway patrol officers first got calls about an accident along Interstate 10 outside Casa Grande (search), about 50 miles south of Phoenix (search), and later received calls about a shooting. When officers arrived, they found four people shot to death.
Passengers in the pickup and SUV didn't return fire, Vanderpool said. The driver and three men traveling in the pickup were killed. Three other people were injured.
Authorities said two people in the SUV, including a woman who was shot in the foot, were also wounded by gunfire. Eleven others who had been in the pickup were found unharmed north of the scene.
Several hours later, authorities arrested four people suspected of being the gunmen who had abandoned the van and fled into the desert near Chandler, said Border Patrol spokesman Rob Daniels. Three firearms were recovered.
The shootings came as Mexican President Vicente Fox was visiting Arizona to discuss migration issues.
The names of the gunmen and victims were not released Tuesday night. Vanderpool said the wounded were taken to hospitals, but he didn't have details about their injuries.
Arizona is one of the busiest illegal entry points on the U.S.-Mexico border for those engaged in the lucrative business of immigrant smuggling.
"This phenomenon is not something new where we see a group being essentially ripped off by another group," said Russell Ahr, spokesman for the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (search).
Tuesday's gunfire also caused a wreck involving three other vehicles that seriously injured one person. |
