Three months after the fatal shooting of a man by Border Patrol agents from the Sierra Blanca checkpoint, the Federal Bureau of Investigation says it is still investigating the incident. An FBI spokesperson says the bureau is unlikely to release any detailed information about that investigation, or to release information about whether it found the shooting to be justified.
Tiano Meton, 25, was shot and killed Jan. 22, after he failed to stop at the Border Patrol checkpoint and then drove away at a high rate of speed. Border Patrol agents pursued Meton east on Interstate 10 for about 30 miles, until his vehicle went off the road near Allamoore. According to the Border Patrol, four agents approached the vehicle, and as they neared the vehicle one of the agents yelled “gun!” Two agents fired their weapons, and Meton was killed. The Border Patrol said that a “pistol-shaped pellet gun was recovered from the individual’s vehicle.”
Michael Martinez, media coordinator for the FBI’s El Paso office, said Tuesday (April 21) that the bureau’s investigation into the shooting was ongoing. He said that “very little” of that investigation was ever likely to be released to the public. He said if criminal charges were brought and an agent was convicted in connection with the incident, some limited information from the FBI’s investigation might be made public.
The Hudspeth County sheriff’s department said after the shooting that the deceased was an African-American man with a criminal record in Albuquerque, N.M., in Bernalillo County – and Bernalillo County records include information on a man fitting the description of the deceased, though identified as Tiano Melton. He was booked into the Bernalillo County jail Dec. 3, 2014 on charges of distributing marijuana and tampering with evidence.
After the Jan. 22 shooting, a small amount of marijuana was recovered from Meton’s vehicle, local law enforcement said.