Global Courant
PHOENIX (AP) — U.S. Customs and Border Protection has released CCTV footage showing Border Patrol agents concerned that a tribesman they fatally shot last month may have been carrying a handgun during an encounter in a remote corner of the Tohono O ‘odham Nation in southern Arizona.
The man, Raymond Mattia, 58, died shortly afterwards shooting the night of May 18 outside a home in the reservation’s Menagers Dam community near the U.S.-Mexico border. Audio from a phone call accompanying the video confirms the agency’s earlier report that Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department called officers for help in response to a report of shots being fired.
The video released late Thursday shows Mattia sheathing a machete at the foot of a tribal officer and then sticking his arm out, actions CBP mentioned in its earlier account of the events.
After Mattia is shot and lying on the ground, an officer declares, “He still has a gun in his hand.”
The footage also shows several officers repeatedly asking if anyone had found a firearm as they went in to handcuff Mattia. There was no sign that a gun had been found.
CBP previously said the three Border Patrol officers who opened fire and at least seven others at the scene wore and activated body cameras during the shooting. The officers involved in the shooting are on paid leave.
The Pima County Medical Examiner separately released its investigative report on Friday, which stated that Mattia had nine gunshot wounds. An accompanying toxicology report revealed that Mattia had a high blood alcohol level and had drugs in his system, including amphetamine and oxycodone.
The FBI and Tohono O’odham Nation are investigating the shooting, but have not released any findings. The shooting is also under review by CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility.
Due to the inclement weather, an air ambulance was not available to take Mattia to a hospital, CBP said, and despite life-saving efforts, he was pronounced dead at the scene after consulting a doctor at a Tucson hospital.
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CBP says it has issued about 7,000 body cameras to agency workstations under a program launched in August 2021.
This year, it released body camera video of several fatal shootings involving its agents, most recently a fatal shooting near Las Cruces, New Mexico, on April 2.
In that case, officers shot a man they believe came after them with a wooden bat after going through a checkpoint without stopping and leading them on a nearly 23-mile chase.
