Authorities are investigating two shootings overnight that ended with a mother dead and her son injured at one crime scene and an off-duty federal agent injured at a second location.
Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez released details of the shootings at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
He said off-duty U.S. Border Patrol agent Juan Hernandez, 44, was sitting in his vehicle on Camelia Street with his unnamed girlfriend of six weeks when the woman’s ex-boyfriend, identified as 21-year-old Jesse Garcia drove up.
Rodriguez said Garcia approached the driver’s side of the agent’s car and allegedly pointed a pistol at Hernandez. The two men reportedly struggled with the gun and Hernandez was shot in the leg.
The chief said Garcia fled and was discovered a short time later at his family home on the 5000 block of Camelia Streeet near Santiago Lane.
He said when deputies and police approached Garcia opened fire. He said officers returned fire. Garcia was struck in the leg, arm and torso.
Rodriguez says during the gunbattle Garcia’s mother, 57-year-old Maria Isabel Garcia, came out of her house and was shot in the back. She was taken to Valley Baptist Medical Center and was dead on arrival.
Cameron County Precinct 1 Justice of the Peace Bennie Ochoa ordered an autopsy.
For breaking news alerts, download the Valley Morning Star free mobile app for iPhone or Android
