Date 25 October 2012 Outcome 2 killed, 6 arrested | Location La Joya, Texas, USA | |
The 2012 La Joya shooting refers to an incident on October 25, 2012, involving the killing of two illegal immigrants by a Texas State Police officer in remote Hidalgo County, Texas, near the town of La Joya.
According to DPS spokesman Tom Vigner, the incident resulted from a car chase when Texas Parks and Wildlife game wardens attempted to stop a red pickup truck with a covered bed, believed to be smuggling illegal drugs from Mexico. When the driver of the red pickup failed to stop for the game wardens, they called in the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) for assistance. DPS dispatched a helicopter to pursue the red truck, which was leading authorities on a high speed chase and endangering public saftely. A police sniper in the helicopter fired shots to disable the truck, but hit two of nine illegal immigrants packed into the vehicle. The vehicle came to a stop shortly thereafter and six suspects were taken into police custody, one of whom was injured.
The illegal immigrants involved in the incident had traveled from their homes in Guatemala through Mexico together. From the city of San MartÃn Jilotepeque they headed for the interior United States, each paying human smugglers $2,000 to $3,000 to get them across the Rio Grande in the La Joya area. After crossing the river they hiked north for approximately six hours before finding the pickup truck.
The Guatemalan Ministry of Affairs later confirmed that the two dead were Guatemalan nationals and issued the following statement: "The government of Guatemala profoundly laments the tragic deaths of the Guatemalan citizens in La Joya, Texas, United States."
State Police Officer Miguel Avila was placed on administrative leave for the shooting and has since returned to duty. Records released by the Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education show that Officer Avila is a longtime veteran of law enforcement, with more than ten years on the job, during two of which he completed "dozens" of hours of specialized training in aircraft operations and tactical firearms use.