Earlier this month, an elderly foreign national died after falling from a wall along the U.S. southern border near San Diego, California, but he would have died alone if not for U.S. Border Patrol agents and first responders. .
At 5:42 a.m. on Nov. 8, a group of suspected illegal immigrants was spotted attempting to cross a double barrier just west of San Diego's Otay Mesa Port of Entry.
Apparently realizing that law enforcement was closing in on them, the group dispersed. One person returned to Mexico. Officials said the three managed to scale the second wall using an “improvised Pompia ladder” and headed north. press release From U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
However, the two were still on top of the second barrier when Border Patrol agents arrived at the zone between the two barriers. One man managed to land in America and head north, but was quickly arrested.
His fellow travelers – later, san diego coroner's office as edgar guillermo hernandezThe 62-year-old Colombian was not so lucky.
Around 5:44 a.m., Hernandez “fell while descending and landed on the north side of the secondary barrier,” the press release said, adding that the secondary barrier was “approximately 30 feet tall…a vertical metal structure. Bollard.”
“This was one of the most dangerous areas. We have double walls. There are walls on both sides of us.”
Border patrol agents noticed from behind the fence that Hernandez was still alive and groaning in pain despite the fall. They immediately radioed for emergency medical assistance.
There may have been some confusion about the exact location, as by 6:09 a.m. Border Patrol supervisors were ordering officers to “escort” the paramedics to the correct location, the press release said. They arrived about five minutes later, but within 60 seconds of arriving, Hernandez “became physically unresponsive and motionless,” police said.
Hernandez was pronounced dead at 6:25 a.m.
The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that the medical examiner's office performed an autopsy and determined that Hernandez's cause of death was blunt force trauma.
A press release said investigators with the coroner's office initially “secured” Hernandez's body, but it is unclear whether Hernandez's body will remain in the coroner's possession.
The Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General has been notified of the incident and the CBP Office of Professional Responsibility is “reviewing” it, according to a press release.
President-elect Donald Trump visited the Otay Mesa Port of Entry to celebrate progress on building a border wall, one of his central campaign promises during his first term in office.
“This was a very high-traffic area, one of the most dangerous areas. We have double walls. We have walls on both sides,” Trump said. speech In September 2019.
“This is a very strong, very strong wall,” he added, “probably the likes of which has never been built before.”
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