Guatemalan Shot in Walk on Imperial Beach

An illegal alien from Guatemala received a minor wound Sunday afternoon when he was shot while walking in Imperial Beach, a San Diego County Sheriff’s Department spokesman said.

The shooting occurred at about 1:40 p.m. when Caesar Bautista-Valesquez, 17, an itinerant laborer from Guatemala City, and three fellow countrymen were walking on the beach about a quarter of a mile south of Seacoast Drive, the sheriff’s spokesman said.

After the four heard what they thought were gunshots, Bautista-Valesquez was struck on the forehead just above his right eye. The youth was flown by helicopter to UC San Diego Medical Center, where he was treated and released for a superficial wound. He and his three companions were later released to the custody of the U.S. Border patrol.

Investigators recovered a .22-caliber rifle near the scene, and the sheriff’s spokesman said late Sunday that a juvenile suspect was being sought in the case.