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Police: Four Dead, Five Wounded in Immigrant Smuggling Shootings in Arizona
TBO.com ^ | 11/05/03 | Beth DeFalco

Posted on 11/05/2003 3:42:32 AM PST by kattracks

CASA GRANDE, Ariz. (AP) - A highway chase turned deadly when immigrant smugglers opened fire at a rival group, killing four people and wounding five, authorities said.

Four suspects were arrested in the desert Tuesday, following the deadly chase.

Smugglers in a van chased down a pickup and sport utility vehicle 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 smuggled immigrants earlier, he said.

Highway patrol officers first got calls about an accident along Interstate 10 outside Casa Grande, about 50 miles south of Phoenix, 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, also were 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.

Traffic slowed on the highway as authorities investigated the shootings, which also caused a wreck involving three other vehicles that seriously injured one person.



TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Culture/Society; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: humansmuggling

1 posted on 11/05/2003 3:42:32 AM PST by kattracks
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To: kattracks
Well, you know it's our fault the Mexicans are shooting each other now.(oops I almost forgot my sarcasm tag)
2 posted on 11/05/2003 3:56:24 AM PST by freeangel (freeangel)
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To: freeangel
Yes your absolutely right! we should send busses down to pick these poor workers up. But I think that mounting .50cal
guns on towers every mile with radar is a better idea..
3 posted on 11/05/2003 4:11:39 AM PST by .45MAN ("The greatest good for the greatest number" we are not indivitual)
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To: kattracks
The shootings came as Mexican President Vicente Fox was visiting Arizona...

So the shooters missed their main target?

4 posted on 11/05/2003 5:20:41 AM PST by DumpsterDiver
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To: kattracks
The names of the gunmen and victims were not released Tuesday night.

What would be the point of that? The names they give are false anyway.
5 posted on 11/05/2003 5:23:14 AM PST by BeerSwillr
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To: kattracks
They were only doing the work American gubmint refuses to do.
6 posted on 11/05/2003 5:46:46 AM PST by banjo joe
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To: freeangel
And it's not going to stop until/unless we comply with Vincente Fox's demand that our immigration policies are reformed.
7 posted on 11/05/2003 5:49:08 AM PST by nicmarlo
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