ROMA – Starr County Sheriff’s Office deputies are still trying to piece together a shooting that happened Wednesday on the river. The victims claimed the shots fired were from the Mexican side of the border.

Three men, all in the U.S. legally, were fishing in a boat when shots rang out in Fronton. The three of them were hit, one man was killed.

The shots fired at the trio were behind a tree line. It’s the same area a Roma cell phone repair business owner, Herbery Garza, used to fish.

“It’s pretty rare that things like that happen because mostly everybody goes fishing on boats on Falcon not on the river,” he said.

Garza knows the dangers when entering the Rio Grande.

“We’ve been used to smuggling here for a long time. It’s not new but things have been getting a little worse,” he said.

Garza recommended only to fish on the side of the river.

“On the boat, you can basically slide the Mexican side and you can intervene with the smugglers,” he said.

Garza said he hopes others follow the advice next time they fish along the Rio Grande.

The Starr County Sheriff’s Office, state, federal and Mexican authorities are investigating. The motive for the shooting is unknown at this time.