Man killed by Border Patrol agent is identified
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The San Diego County medical examiner released the name of a man fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent after the two allegedly scuffled over a gun.
The victim, Benito A. Gonzalez, 40, was killed Thursday after the agent tried to handcuff him, said Paul Parker, an investigator with the medical examiner’s office.
A records search identified him as an illegal immigrant.
The shooting occurred when Border Patrol agents began following a van that may have been carrying illegal immigrants in suburban El Cajon. When the van pulled over, agents arrested the driver and 11 passengers.
Gonzalez pulled alongside the undercover agent who stayed behind to wait for a tow truck and confronted him, and the two scuffled in a parking lot in Escondido, officials said.
It was unclear whether Gonzalez was linked to the suspected illegal immigrants.
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