SAN YSIDRO – Federal agents shot and killed the driver of a sport utility vehicle headed for the Mexican border crossing yesterday afternoon, closing freeway lanes and backing up traffic to Chula Vista.
NANCEE E. LEWIS / Union-Tribune
Southbound traffic on Interstate 5 was at a standstill for hours yesterday after a fatal shooting shut down the border crossing at San Ysidro, stacking cars as far as Chula Vista. An attempt to divert vehicles to the Otay Mesa crossing caused an hours-long jam there.
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As of 10:30 p.m., the world's busiest land border crossing was still closed to southbound traffic, which was being diverted to the Otay Mesa crossing.
Border Patrol agents had been tracking the black Dodge Durango after a tip to the agency's Smuggling Interdiction Unit that the driver had picked up suspected illegal immigrants near the Otay Mesa crossing on the U.S. side of the border.
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Crossing reopens
The San Ysidro border crossing was reopened to traffic starting around
11:30 p.m. Thursday night. The crossing was closed for more than eight hours
as San Diego homicide detectives investigated the fatal shooting of a driver
suspected of picking up illegal immigrants who was headed for Mexico.
"They started opening everything up at 11:31 p.m. last night," said
California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Bettencourt. "Everything was completely
clear by 12:42 a.m."
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Near the San Ysidro crossing, the vehicle pulled to the side of Interstate 5. When agents approached the SUV and ordered the driver out, the vehicle began to move. Police said it pressed a Border Patrol agent against a vehicle in the right lane.
The agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer then opened fire, San Diego police Lt. Kevin Rooney said. The driver, whose name was not released, was declared dead at the scene by paramedics. Five passengers were taken into custody, some with minor cuts from broken glass.
Rooney, in charge of the homicide squad that investigates officer-involved shootings in San Diego, said he did not know if the passengers were illegal immigrants.
For the next 2½ hours, stymied motorists turned San Ysidro streets into chaos as they searched for parking or circled aimlessly, waiting for the border to be opened.
EARNIE GRAFTON / Union-Tribune
Thousands of cars backed up on southbound Interstates 5 and 805 yesterday after a fatal shooting at the San Ysidro crossing.
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Other drivers sat in their cars or abandoned them in freeway lanes to cross into Mexico on foot.
“It's really interesting to see San Ysidro like this,” Charles Greenwood of Tijuana said. “This is impacting thousands of people because thousands of people cross the border every day.”
While motorists resigned themselves to long waits, authorities rolled yellow tape around the sport utility vehicle and rounded up witnesses.
With the border crossing closed for the investigation, the afternoon commute of travelers, many headed home to Tijuana, quickly backed up on Interstates 5 and 805. The California Highway Patrol diverted cars east on state Route 905 toward the Otay Mesa border crossing, causing an hours-long jam there.
Sandra Soto of Tijuana said she had sat in traffic for hours and was directed east on state Route 905. She took the first exit off the 905 and made her way to the Las Americas outlet mall.
Rooney said the shooting happened a few minutes after someone called the Border Patrol's smuggling unit about 3:25 p.m.
Border Patrol agents saw the Durango heading west on Route 905 and followed it south on I-5.
About 20 feet from the U.S. checkpoint, the driver pulled onto the right shoulder and stopped. An agent told him to get out.
Witnesses in cars yards away said the agent struck the driver's window with a police baton, breaking the glass. The SUV started to move forward, said Delfina Castellanos of Tijuana, who was heading home. She said she heard two gunshots and saw the Durango roll forward, then stop.
John Gibbins / Union-Tribune
Police said agents opened fire on this Dodge Durango near the San Ysidro crossing yesterday.
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Ana Valderrama, in a car near the front of traffic heading into Mexico, said: “At first I was like, 'This is not happening.' And after, when I heard the shots, I was more afraid. But it stopped pretty quickly and they got it under control.”
By 6 p.m., the CHP had diverted most motorists off I-5 and I-805 south of Route 905, but by 10 p.m. cars still lined the Camino de la Plaza bridge over I-5, with drivers waiting to cross. Nearby parking lots were full or filling quickly with motorists planning to cross the border on foot. Many people shopped for groceries.
Scores of people used cell phones to alert their families or others that they were stuck at the border with no end in sight. Mothers consoled crying children and resorted to changing diapers in car trunks.
Lupita de Garica of San Quintin, five hours south of Tijuana, said she and a friend had shopped in San Diego and had no money for a motel.
“Now we have to wait until the border opens, and we're going to be driving all night,” Garcia said. “This day will be unforgettable.”
Pauline Repard: (619) 293-1893; pauline.repard@uniontrib.com
