El Paso, Texas – A freak accident involving a high-powered rifle killed three National Guard soldiers in Juarez, Mexico, on Tuesday.
Authorities say several Guard members were patrolling in a pickup truck along Avenida Ejercito Nacional in Central Juarez on Tuesday afternoon during a dust storm.
According to a National Guard incident report obtained by Border Report, a guardsman stationed in the back of the pickup holding an assault rifle allegedly saw a vehicle carrying armed men approaching from the opposite direction and released the rifle’s safety.
According to the report, the rifle went off almost immediately while pointing downward, and a bullet entered the cab, fatally wounding the driver of the National Guard vehicle.
The vehicle collided with a utility pole, killing two additional guardsmen, according to the report. The guard recognized the driver as Luis Daniel S.C.
Three other Guard members were injured in the collision.
Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum deployed 10,000 National Guard troops to patrol the border earlier this year after President Donald Trump threatened to impose tariffs on Mexico for failing to do enough to reduce illegal immigration and drug trafficking into the United States.
Even before that, fully armed Mexican National Guard troops routinely patrolled Juarez’s streets and assisted local police at highway roadblocks.
According to Juarez municipal police officers present at the scene, the Guard did not immediately identify the other deceased soldiers or the accidental shooter who survived the crash.
