National Guard Confirms Shooting Victim was a Soldier

El Paso, TX – The Texas National Guard has confirmed it was one of their soldiers killed in Juarez Wednesday. 22-year-old Jose Gil Hernandez was found surrounded by 18 shell casings in a colonia in South Juarez. Another man, a 43-year-old was also killed. The questions investigators are working on now: What Hernandez was doing in Juarez, and who the man found dead next to him was. Hernandez enlisted with the Guard in 2007. Officials say he was a student, a private first class and fire direction sensor specialist. Hernandez wasn’t enrolled at UTEP. NMSU and EPCC are checking their enrollment. We’ve also learned Hernandez went to Juarez despite a warning from the Guard to avoid cross-border trips. The Guard prohibits active-duty soldiers from traveling to Mexico, and urges those not on active duty to only cross the border if absolutely necessary. Also, our news partners in Juarez, channel 44, spoke to Hernandez’s uncle. He told them the Guardsman had two brothers in the military. One is stationed in Iraq, the other in Laredo.