SAN DIEGO : Bandits Kill Border Crosser

A Guadalajara man who had crossed into the United States illegally through the fence at Otay Mesa was shot and killed when two men tried to rob him, San Diego County sheriff’s deputies said.

Sgt. Manny Castillo said the man and a female companion were just north of the border when they were confronted about 8 p.m. Sunday by two men, armed with a handgun, who demanded money.

The victim, identified as Roberto Barajas, 50, apparently refused to turn over his money and was shot in the chest, Castillo said.

His companion, a Tijuana woman, was not injured and fled back into Mexico, where she contacted Tijuana authorities, who called the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department, Castillo said. U.S. Border Patrol agents had also spotted the body from a helicopter, deputies said.