Saturday, August 10, 2002


Ranger killed in shootout

Death linked to hit squad that killed 4, officials say
By Ignacio Ibarra and Tim Steller
ARIZONA DAILY STAR

A National Park Service ranger at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument
was killed in a shootout with suspected smugglers Friday afternoon,
said deputy Nicole Feldt of the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

At least one other man, believed to be a Mexican citizen, was also
shot and killed and another was in custody, said Edward "Bud" Tuffly,
president of the union of Border Patrol agents in Southern Arizona.

The ranger's identity was being withheld Friday pending family
notification.

Mexican officials said the shooting is linked to a quadruple murder
that occurred in Mexico on Thursday.

Thursday night, federal police arrested a 19-year-old who said he had
participated in the contract murder of four people, said Miguel
Francisco Lopez Castro, regional head of the Sonoran Attorney
General's Office.

The man, Jesus Martin Yescas Zazueta, said he had come from Tijuana to
carry out those killings and others for someone nicknamed "El Zarco,"
Lopez Castro said.

About 9 a.m. Friday, police found the four bodies about 10 miles west
of Sonoyta, Lopez Castro said. Three of the victims had their arms
tied behind their backs and a gunshot to the head. The other victim
was untied and shot multiple times.

After that discovery, 60 officers were called in from around Sonora to
look for the suspected mastermind and avert further confrontations
between the hit men and their remaining targets.

Officers found "El Zarco," whose real name is Panfilo Murillo Aguila,
about 1 p.m. Friday just southeast of the Lukeville port of entry.

Shooting ensued, and Mexican officials called authorities to warn them
Murillo Aguila and a companion were heading north.

The ranger who was killed and Border Patrol agents were in the area
when Murillo Aguila and the companion reached the border. The ranger
was responding with U.S. Border Patrol agents to a call for assistance
from Mexican authorities about three miles east of Lukeville,
according to Dale Thompson, chief park ranger at Organ Pipe National
Monument.

It's unclear whether it was Murillo Aguila or his companion who was
killed by the gunfire. The survivor was arrested by U.S. authorities.

The incident is under investigation by the Pima County Sheriff's
Department and the FBI, which did not return phone calls to its
Phoenix office Friday.

Reports of the shooting's exact location varied, but Feldt said it
took place near Puerto Blanco Loop Drive, a dirt road that runs
through the national monument west of Arizona 85.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Ryan Scudder in Tucson confirmed that
U.S. Border Patrol agents were on the ground and in a helicopter
overhead when the shooting occurred, but referred all other questions
to the Sheriff's Department and FBI.

Tuffly said a Border Patrol agent and the ranger were together on
foot, although not necessarily near one another, when the shooting
occurred.

"He was helping the Border Patrol and got shot for it," Tuffly said.
"They help us out a lot when they can, but that's not part of his job
description, interdicting smugglers down by the port of entry. But if
we need backup, they'll help us out. It's real unfortunate."

The park ranger, a commissioned law enforcement officer, was armed and
wearing body armor at the time, Thompson said.

He said the weapon that killed the ranger was a rifle. The ranger was
one of four Park Service rangers assigned to the Organ Pipe Cactus
National Monument.

In Washington, the National Park Service released a statement: "We
regret to inform that an NPS law enforcement ranger was shot and
killed in the line of duty this afternoon while pursuing two armed
suspects along the U.S.-Mexican border. We will provide further
details when they become available."