The family of the young Guatemalan woman shot and killed by a Border Patrol agent last week said they want their daughter’s body returned to them and for the man who killed her to be held accountable.
Claudia Patricia Gómez González, 19, was killed by a U.S. Border Patrol agent on Wednesday near the Mexican border in Rio Bravo, Texas, about 10 miles south of Laredo.
“Guatemala reiterates its rejection of this type of acts of violence and any excessive use of force by the border patrol, and calls for the rights of our compatriots to be respected at all times, regardless of their immigration status, especially the right to life,” the ministry said in a statement.
The family’s mourning comes as U.S. Customs and Border Protection changed their original account of what led to Gómez death in an updated statement on Friday.
The agency said in the updated statement that the agent, a 15-year veteran, was responding to a report of “illegal activity” around 12:30 p.m. (1:30 p.m. ET) Wednesday near a culvert in Rio Bravo when he encountered a group of people he suspected of being in the country illegally and “ordered them to get on the ground.”
“According to the agent, the group ignored his verbal commands and instead rushed him,” the statement said. “The agent discharged one round from his service-issued firearm, striking one member of the group.”
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