Cross-Border Shooting Leaves Local Leaders In Damage Control Mode

Convincing people in the Borderland they are safe after a bullet, believed to have come from Juarez, struck a women in the leg in Downtown El Paso, is one thing.

But convincing the rest of the world that El Paso is safe, may be another thing altogether.

It didn’t take long for just about every newspaper and television station in the United States and elsewhere to pick up the story Tuesday, leaving El Paso leaders in full damage control mode.

“This has been elevated to a new level,” said Richard Dayoub, president of the Greater El Paso Chamber of Commerce.

Added state Rep. Naomi Gonzalez, “We’re trying to figure out how we convey the message that El Paso is still very safe.”

Dayoub was as on his way to Denver Wednesday for a convention and he said he expects everyone there to ask him about it.

“This is the first time we’ve had a situation like this, where someone has actually been injured,” Dayoub said. “We hope it’s the very last time.”

Dayoub added the damage may already be too deep to repair.

“For all intents and purposes, it is the shot heard around the world, because the national wire services have picked this up,” he said. “People are talking about this across the country and it’s just sad.”

Dayoub is right about it being a “shot heard around the world.” A simple “El Paso” Google search Wednesday revealed thousands of hits and versions of the story. It appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the New York Daily News and even the United Kingdom’s Daily Mail.

“I heard from CNN, Fox News, telephone interviews, radio stations from all over the country,” El Paso Mayor John Cook said. “But we actually got more coverage on the bullets that hit (El Paso) City Hall (in 2010).”

Still others were concerned with how much this latest incident, where someone was actually struck by a stray bullet, will affect El Paso.

“That certainly does add a heightened sense of fear in this community,” Gonzalez said. “I understand that, but at the same time we have to remain levelheaded and calm.”

Dayoub said, “It’s something over which we have no control and we just have to deal with it.”

Dayoub said it’s the job of everyone, not just city leaders, to convince people that El Paso is safe. Gonzalez said she expects a lot of questions next time she goes to Austin. Cook said he has not been able to reach Juarez Mayor Hector Murguia, but hopes to soon.

Cook added, he’s going to ask Murguia if he’s interested in El Paso law-enforcement agencies providing advice and training for juarez police in order to avoid another cross-border incident.