A Man Who Ran An Allegedly Abusive ICE Jail Has Been Accused Of Fatally Shooting An Immigrant

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Adolfo Flores
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Michael Sheppard was the warden at the West Texas Detention Center right up until he was arrested for allegedly shooting two immigrants. In 2018, African immigrants accused him of racism & abuse at the ICE facility, it's unclear what came of the complaints.

buzzfeednews.com
A Man Who Ran An Allegedly Abusive ICE Jail Has Been Accused Of Fatally Shooting An Immigrant
Michael Sheppard was the warden at the West Texas Detention Center before he was arrested for allegedly shooting two immigrants, one fatally.
11:36 AM · Oct 2, 2022

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/adolfoflores/texas-shooting-immigrants-water

A Texas man who ran an ICE facility that has a history of abuse allegations is accused of fatally shooting an immigrant and injuring another while they drank water along a farm road.

Michael Sheppard, 60, was arrested last week after authorities said he fired two rounds from a shotgun at a group of immigrants in an area near the southern border, killing a man and injuring a woman. His twin brother, Mark Sheppard, was also arrested and both face manslaughter charges.

On Tuesday near sundown, the brothers allegedly drove past a group of suspected undocumented immigrants who had stopped to drink water out of a reservoir in the desert near Sierra Blanca, Texas, according to law enforcement affidavits. Michael Sheppard is accused of backing up his truck and yelling at the group to leave before leaning over the hood of his truck and firing the shotgun. The brothers then drove off to a water board meeting without checking to see if the gunfire had struck anyone, the affidavits said.

An immigrant man died at the scene from his injuries, and a woman, who was shot in the stomach, was taken to a hospital. When authorities questioned Michael Sheppard about the shooting, he was reluctant to discuss it and left, according to the affidavit. His brother initially told investigators the pair weren't near the site of the shooting, but later admitted they were.

*snip*

[Turbineguy]

1. So he will not be able to abuse others any more.

An ill wind.

[dalton99a]

2. Murder, not manslaughter

They were looking to kill immigrants in that area

A passing pickup truck stopped and backed up near the migrants, who hid behind brush. Someone from the truck yelled out in Spanish, “Come out you sons of bitches, little asses,” the migrants told police later.

An arrest affidavit from the Texas Department of Public Safety obtained Friday by the Tribune says Michael Sheppard, the warden at a private immigration detention center in Sierra Blanca, then got out of the truck with a shotgun, leaned against the hood and fired two rounds, killing a man and injuring a woman in the group.

“Did you get him?” asked his twin brother, Mark Sheppard, who was also in the truck, according to the affidavit. Mark Sheppard changed “him” to “it” while talking to the officer and claimed the brothers were hunting animals and didn’t know they had fired at people, the affidavit says.

The brothers, both 60, then drove off to a local water board meeting.

https://www.texastribune.org/2022/09/30/texas-migrants-shooting-warden-sierra-blanca/