HUDSPETH COUNTY, Texas — One of two Texas brothers who authorities say opened fire on a group of migrants getting water near the U.S.-Mexico border was a warden at a detention facility with a history of abuse allegations.
The shooting Tuesday was in rural Hudspeth County about 90 miles from El Paso.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said one male victim died and that a female victim was recovering at an El Paso hospital.
Court documents say Michael Sheppard and Mark Sheppard were charged with manslaughter.
Michael Sheppard served as warden of a local detention center. A spokesman for Lasalle Corrections said Thursday the warden had been fired.
On Saturday, Texas lawmakers hosted a press conference over zoom to announce a joint call on the Department of Justice to investigate the shooting further as a hate crime.
"This attack was a hate crime, an act of violence against innocent immigrants committed by a man who has a history of attacks on vulnerable people. There was no way for the killers to know who their victims were or what there legal status was. There was no way for them to know whether the people they attacked were in the United States for five days or 50 years. Based on the circumstance of this case, it's hard not to believe that there victims were attacked in cold blood by two men who looked at the color of their skin and decided to make them targets," said Rep. Joaquin Castro.
While the brothers remain booked on manslaughter charges, Homeland Security Investigations in El Paso said there could be more charges soon.