By yourNEWS Media Newsroom.
GARCENO, Texas — U.S. Coast Guard personnel exchanged gunfire with unidentified people on the Mexican side of the Rio Grande during a federal border operation in Starr County, prompting an investigation and increased security coordination between American and Mexican forces.
The incident occurred Sept. 26 near Garceno, a small South Texas community along the U.S.-Mexico border, as Coast Guard personnel worked with other federal agencies on what officials described as joint interdiction operations.
Shots came from the Mexican side of the river and Coast Guard personnel returned fire, according to reporting by Fox News and a statement provided by the Coast Guard to Stars and Stripes.
No Coast Guard members or other U.S. personnel were injured, and officials reported no damage to Coast Guard vessels or equipment.
“No injuries to Coast Guard or other personnel were reported, and no damage to Coast Guard assets or equipment was reported,” the Coast Guard said.
The service said the circumstances surrounding the shooting remain under investigation with other federal agencies.
Officials have not publicly identified the people who fired from Mexico, and the Coast Guard has not said whether investigators believe they were members of a criminal organization, migrant smugglers or another group.
The encounter occurred as U.S. personnel were intercepting migrants attempting to cross the Rio Grande, according to officials.
Video and reporting circulated after the incident as U.S. authorities began reinforcing the region.
The U.S. military subsequently cited the Sept. 26 encounter as an example of what it described as increased illegal activity along the border while hundreds of American military personnel and equipment were repositioned to the Rio Grande Valley.
Mexico has simultaneously deployed roughly 500 Army and National Guard personnel to its side of the border.
U.S. Ambassador to Mexico Ronald Johnson said American officials were coordinating directly with Mexican forces following the shooting.
“The U.S. Embassy in Mexico is helping coordinate with Mexican forces deploying to the border area where U.S. Coast Guardsmen were fired upon,” Johnson said.
“Mexican military commanders will communicate directly with deployed U.S. forces.”
Johnson said the increased coordination is intended to make it more difficult for organized criminal groups and terrorist organizations to operate along the border.
“Together, we intend to patrol both sides of our shared border, protect our communities, and make it more difficult for criminal and terrorist organizations to operate. Any threats from criminal or terrorist elements on either side of the border will be swiftly addressed.”
Johnson’s statement was circulated publicly as forces on both sides prepared for additional patrols.
Mexican officials, however, challenged the U.S. account Monday.
President Claudia Sheinbaum said Mexico had asked Washington for evidence supporting the allegation that shots were fired from Mexican territory.
According to Reuters, Sheinbaum said Mexico’s National Guard, Army and Navy had reviewed the matter and had not found evidence confirming the reported exchange.
She said Mexican forces were already conducting what authorities have called a mirror operation along the border, designed to coordinate deployments on both sides while avoiding misunderstandings between U.S. and Mexican personnel.
That creates an unresolved discrepancy between the two governments.
The Coast Guard has publicly stated that its personnel encountered gunfire coming from the Mexican side of the river and returned fire. Mexican authorities say their own review has not identified evidence of the shooting and have asked U.S. officials to provide additional information.
The Coast Guard said Friday that the investigation remains open.
“Threats to Coast Guard members and our partners are taken extremely seriously,” the service said. “The circumstances surrounding the incident remain under investigation.”
U.S. Northern Command has meanwhile moved hundreds of service members and additional equipment into the Rio Grande Valley as part of the Trump administration’s expanded military role in border security.
President Donald Trump declared a national emergency along the southwest border on his first day back in office and directed the Defense Department to increase support for federal immigration and law-enforcement agencies.
Military personnel have since been used for surveillance, logistics, transportation and other support missions along portions of the southern border.
The Coast Guard has also expanded operations on the Rio Grande.
Unlike the Army and other military branches, the Coast Guard has law-enforcement authority and routinely participates in interdiction operations involving drug trafficking, migrant smuggling and other cross-border activity.
The Sept. 26 incident occurred in Starr County, a stretch of the Rio Grande long used by smuggling organizations to move migrants and narcotics between Tamaulipas and South Texas.
Garceno lies northwest of Rio Grande City and across the river from a region where Mexican criminal organizations have historically competed for control of trafficking routes.
Authorities have not linked the shooters in the latest incident to any particular cartel.
Some early reports described the gunmen as suspected cartel members, but U.S. officials have not publicly confirmed their identities.
That distinction remains important while the investigation continues.
What authorities have confirmed is that Coast Guard personnel were conducting a joint interdiction mission when shots were reported from across the international boundary and the American crew returned fire.
The exchange resulted in no reported casualties.
The increased deployments that followed are intended to improve surveillance and patrol coverage on both sides of the Rio Grande.
Mexico’s contingent includes roughly 500 members of the Army and National Guard operating in municipalities along the Tamaulipas border.
Helicopters, drones and other equipment have also been deployed as part of the Mexican operation.
The U.S. reinforcement includes hundreds of troops repositioned to South Texas along with equipment intended to support Customs and Border Protection and other federal agencies.
Johnson said direct communications between military commanders on opposite sides of the border would be used to coordinate those activities.
The arrangement is intended both to target criminal organizations and to prevent U.S. and Mexican security forces from inadvertently misidentifying one another during operations near the river.
The incident highlights the unusual security environment along parts of the border, where American and Mexican forces can operate within relatively short distances of one another while armed trafficking groups also move through the area.
A cross-border exchange of gunfire involving uniformed U.S. personnel carries additional diplomatic and security implications because the Rio Grande itself forms the international boundary through much of South Texas.
Mexico has repeatedly said it will cooperate with the United States against organized crime while opposing unilateral American military operations on Mexican soil.
Sheinbaum reiterated that position Monday while asking for evidence regarding the Coast Guard incident.
Johnson, meanwhile, emphasized joint action rather than unilateral intervention.
“Together, we intend to patrol both sides of our shared border, protect our communities, and make it more difficult for criminal and terrorist organizations to operate,” he said.
For now, investigators have not publicly answered the most basic question surrounding the Sept. 26 encounter: who fired at the Coast Guard personnel from the Mexican side of the Rio Grande.
The U.S. says the gunfire occurred and its personnel responded.
Mexico says it has yet to find evidence confirming the incident.
As that discrepancy is investigated, both governments are putting additional forces along the border — with hundreds of U.S. troops moving into the Rio Grande Valley and 500 Mexican Army and National Guard personnel reinforcing the opposite bank.
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