Source: The Dallas Morning News Pubdate: 06/20/97 Contact: Marines failed to render aid in border shooting Rangers' probe turns up questions in teen's death By Douglas Holt / The Dallas Morning News EL PASO After fatally shooting a teenager last month on the TexasMexico border, a team of U.S. Marines failed to render first aid or even to call for emergency medical help, a Texas Rangers investigator said Thursday. For 22 minutes, Ezequiel Hernandez, a softspoken 18yearold who had been herding his family's goats, lay bleeding while the Marines, who were on an antidrug surveillance mission, took no action to help other than to call for the U.S. Border Patrol. "Apparently the Marines did not treat him until the responding Border Patrol agents got there and called for an ambulance," said Sgt. David Duncan, head of an investigation into the May 20 shooting of Mr. Hernandez. The Marines have said that the team leader fired one M16 round in selfdefense after Mr. Hernandez fired on the team with a .22caliber rifle. Asked Thursday about the lack of first aid or other assistance, Joint Task Force 6 spokeswoman Maureen Bossch said she had "no new information" on the shooting. The El Pasobased task force coordinates U.S. military missions to assist law enforcement agencies in antidrug efforts. Mr. Hernandez was shot in the chest and suffered massive internal bleeding, the Rangers have said. Authorities have not said how long he lived after the shooting or whether first aid or a faster response would have saved his life, but several law enforcement officials and observers said offering first aid is standard procedure after a shooting. "Once you've stopped the threat, you immediately go into assistance mode," said Joseph Harris, an assistant U.S. Border Patrol chief based in Marfa. "That would be a commonsense rule. There would be no question; that's a human being." Randy Garner, assistant professor of criminal justice at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, said: "Certainly after the person ceases to be a threat, the duty falls upon the law enforcement officer to take some steps to render aid." It appears clear that the Marines knew they had shot a man, because they had reported there was a "man down," Sgt. Duncan said. Asked what exactly the Marines did after he was shot, he said: "The soldiers . . . they approached the guy. That's really as far as I can go." Mr. Hernandez was shot at 6:27 p.m. A helicopter stationed 20 miles away at the Presidio airport for the purpose of responding to any medical emergency involving the Marines was not summoned until 6:49 p.m. That was about two minutes after Border Patrol agents arrived, Sgt. Duncan said. By law, the military cannot make arrests or conduct searches, but it is allowed to be the "eyes and ears" of law enforcement agencies. Border rights advocates called the military team's inaction after the Hernandez shooting appalling, particularly since the unit included a member trained as an emergency medic a standard precaution intended to protect the soldiers. "It gets worse and worse," said Suzan Kern, coordinator of the El Pasobased Border Rights Coalition. "You have to wonder about a coverup, and you have to wonder about the humanity of these people." At noon Friday, the coalition plans a protest at the federal building in El Paso to call for a removal of military troops from the border. Diana Valenzuela, 45, a resident of Mr. Hernandez's hometown of Redford, said the news only added to the sadness and anger weighing on the tiny farming community near Big Bend. "It's just so sad to think about him laying there," she said. "They didn't wait in shooting him, why did they wait in giving him aid? From the way everything sounds, they wanted him to die." The latest revelation comes as Texas authorities are seeking a fuller accounting of the shooting from the military. The Rangers are the lead investigative agency preparing a report for District Attorney Albert Valadez, an apparent tug of war has taken place between the Rangers and the military. The Rangers, for example, had been told the four Marines in the unit would remain in Texas for seven days after the shooting, Sgt. Duncan said Thursday. Investigators had hoped to bring the team to the scene for a videotaped reenactment. But four days after the shooting, they were sent back to Camp Pendleton, Calif. Subpoenas have been issued for Joint Task Force 6 officials, including a lieutenant colonel who headed the agency's internal investigation, Sgt. Duncan said. The Rangers also have demanded communications records during and after the shooting. A request to serve the subpoenas has been made at the provost marshal's office in Fort Bliss, where the task force is based, Sgt. Duncan said. But, he said, the subpoenas had not been served. Ms. Bossch denied that the military was dragging its feet in getting the subpoenas served. "I know that subpoenas can be served on post," she said. "There's no exemption. The military's not trying to hide from getting subpoenas. We're cooperating here." Ms. Bossch said the military would not have any further comment at this time. Previously, the military has refused to comment on key points that the Rangers' investigation has disputed, such as whether Mr. Hernandez was pointing his rifle at the Marines when he was shot. The Marines said after the shooting that Mr. Hernandez had fired his weapon twice and was preparing to shoot a third time. The Rangers have said that preliminary evidence shows that Mr. Hernandez' rifle was pointed away from the Marines when he was shot. The Rangers have said that, after Mr. Hernandez fired his rifle, the Marines following him for 700 feet before he was shot. "It's totally inappropriate for anyone involved in the whole investigation law enforcement or military to comment on the specifics until the final investigation is released," Ms. Bossch said.