Two men traveling in a pickup truck on a Texas border road fired shots at a group of undocumented immigrants, according to court documents unsealed Thursday.
One of the immigrants died after receiving a bullet in the head and another
was wounded in the stomach.
Authorities arrested the two suspects in Hudspeth County, east of El Paso, who have been charged with murder.
They were identified as Michael Sheppard, who works as a guard at a local jail, and his twin brother, Mark Sheppard,
The New York Times
reported .
The immigrants were part of a group of four who were walking through a vacant area near Sierra Blanca, when a truck intercepted them.
They tried to hide behind a roadside water tank when two men got out of the vehicle, according to court documents.
[Nine Cuban migrants survive the sinking of their boat off Florida by Hurricane Ian. There are still 18 missing]
The subjects opened fire, shooting them at least twice.
A bullet hit the head of one of the immigrants, who died.
Another bullet hit a woman in her stomach.
The victim was taken to a hospital and is recovering
, according to authorities with the Texas Department of Public Safety.
The survivors signaled a state trooper who was in the area to stop.
Next to them lay the dead immigrant, on his knees with his face pierced, according to case documents consulted by Telemundo 48, our affiliate in El Paso.
A Border Patrol pickup truck in the West Texas desert. NBC4 Los Angeles
Detectives tracked the suspects' truck to a home near the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office.
"We all responded," said agent Lasaro Salgado.
"We turned the investigation over to the Texas Rangers."
Both the FBI and federal agents from Customs and Border Protection are working on the investigation of the attack, a spokesman for the Texas Rangers confirmed to
The New York Times
.
