State
Group demands Texas chopper shooting investigation
Posted: Nov 1, 2012 3:10 PM
Updated: Nov 1, 2012 3:12 PM
LA JOYA, Texas (AP) A civil rights group is demanding an independent investigation of the fatal shooting of two suspected illegal immigrants by a Texas state trooper from a helicopter.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Texas made its demand in a letter to Director Steve McCraw of the Texas Department of Public Safety, released Thursday.
It says, "If the facts as reported are true, this use of deadly force was illegal and unconstitutional."
A trooper aboard a DPS helicopter fired at a fleeing truck in an effort to disable it on Oct. 25. Nine Guatemalan immigrants were in the truck, six hidden under a tarp in the bed. Three were wounded, two fatally.
The letter demands an investigation by "an agency that is not under the umbrella of the Texas DPS."
