Prison warden eh? They charged manslaughter?? Sounds like straight murder to me--but he probably has connections.
A prison warden and his twin brother are charged with manslaughter after authorities say they opened fire on a group of migrants traveling along a Texas roadside, killing one person and wounding another.
The deadly violence unfolded Tuesday in Hudspeth County near Sierra Blanca, a small town in the Chihuahuan Desert located about 25 miles from the Mexican border. Thirteen migrants were collecting water from a reservoir in the region when a passing pickup truck sped by and then reversed back toward the group, authorities said.
Michael Sheppard, the warden at a private immigration detention center in Sierra Blanca, then exited his vehicle, “leaned on the hood of the vehicle and fired two shots from a firearm at the group,” according to an affidavit released on Friday.
“Did you get him?” the warden’s brother, Mark Sheppard, allegedly asked him.
Investigators said the brothers then drove away from the scene without confirming whether anyone was shot.
A man in the group died while a woman was injured in the gunfire. They were not identified.
Migrants later told authorities the men hurled profanities at them ahead of the attack. They were also able to provide a description of the shooter’s vehicle, leading officers to Michael Sheppard’s driveway. While he acknowledged the truck parked in front of his home belonged to him, Michael was otherwise “reluctant to speak,” according to the affidavit.
In a separate interview, Mark Sheppard initially denied visiting the area where the shooting occurred. He later confessed to being in the there, but only because he and his brother were searching for game.
“Mark Sheppard told us he used binoculars and saw a ‘black butt’ thinking it was a javelina,” according to the affidavit. That’s when his twin “exited the truck with a shotgun” and fired off a pair of shots.
The brothers, both 60, were arrested on Thursday and booked into the El Paso County Jail on manslaughter charges.
A prison warden and his twin brother are charged with manslaughter after authorities say they opened fire on a group of migrants traveling along a Texas roadside, killing one person and wounding another.
The deadly violence unfolded Tuesday in Hudspeth County near Sierra Blanca, a small town in the Chihuahuan Desert located about 25 miles from the Mexican border. Thirteen migrants were collecting water from a reservoir in the region when a passing pickup truck sped by and then reversed back toward the group, authorities said.
Michael Sheppard, the warden at a private immigration detention center in Sierra Blanca, then exited his vehicle, “leaned on the hood of the vehicle and fired two shots from a firearm at the group,” according to an affidavit released on Friday.
“Did you get him?” the warden’s brother, Mark Sheppard, allegedly asked him.
Investigators said the brothers then drove away from the scene without confirming whether anyone was shot.
A man in the group died while a woman was injured in the gunfire. They were not identified.
Migrants later told authorities the men hurled profanities at them ahead of the attack. They were also able to provide a description of the shooter’s vehicle, leading officers to Michael Sheppard’s driveway. While he acknowledged the truck parked in front of his home belonged to him, Michael was otherwise “reluctant to speak,” according to the affidavit.
In a separate interview, Mark Sheppard initially denied visiting the area where the shooting occurred. He later confessed to being in the there, but only because he and his brother were searching for game.
“Mark Sheppard told us he used binoculars and saw a ‘black butt’ thinking it was a javelina,” according to the affidavit. That’s when his twin “exited the truck with a shotgun” and fired off a pair of shots.
The brothers, both 60, were arrested on Thursday and booked into the El Paso County Jail on manslaughter charges.
