Sheriff: San Elizario Incident Good Training For Spillover Violence

By ABC-7 Reporter Darren Hunt

SAN ELIZARIO, Texas — The call of shots fired from across the border in San Elizario Tuesday afternoon sent law enforcement officers in the area scrambling to the scene expecting the worst.

It happened along Petunia Drive just yards away from the border fence.

While it turned out to be simply the start of hunting season, no one knew that, including the law enforcement agencies who responded to the scene.

For about an hour, until a Border Patrol helicopter spotted the hunters responsible for the gunfire, many were under the impression that this was a spillover from the drug war in Mexico.

One resident even found a buck shot in their driveway, and another was hit, although the bullet didn’t penetrate the skin.

With matters continuing to worsen in Juarez, more than 300 were killed this past month. Many in the area have grown concerned.

Sheriff Richard Wiles is one of the few lawmen in the area who has admitted to spillover violence in El Paso. In fact, he said it has been going on for years, and he was glad his deputies got to practice for it on Tuesday.

“Even though things don’t turn out to be what they are, many times they do become training events, live training events for us that we really can’t reproduce,” Wiles said.

“We try to do these scenarios, but everyone knows it’s a training scenario. But when you have a situation like that and you think it is something serious, but it turns out to be something else, we respond to it as if it is real.”

Wiles went on to say there are plans in place for spillover violence, and if the Sheriff’s Office needs help from state and federal agencies, he has been assured they are ready to assist.

That is a calming feeling for people who may fear being caught in the middle of an increasingly hostile situation.