Illegal immigrant shooter recently cited for carrying a concealed weapon
By Freeman Klopott
Examiner Staff Writer 11/10/08
The citation was issued on Oct. 3, a little less than a month before police say Hector Hernandez — an El Salvadoran illegal immigrant living in Takoma Park — opened fire on a Montgomery County bus, killing Tai Lam and wounding two other teens, ages 14 and 15.
Hernandez was with four or five other alleged gang members when he got on the bus in Silver Spring, police said. Other arrests are likely.
The two groups got into an argument on the bus and, as Hernandez was exiting near Piney Branch Road and Arliss Street, he pulled out a handgun and started shooting, police said.
The limited records available on the Internet do not say if Hernandez was taken into custody for hiding the weapon on Oct. 3.
Police spokesman Lt. Paul Starks said the charge implies the weapon was not a gun, but possibly a knife or nunchucks, and the officer who issued the citation would not necessarily have brought Hernandez to jail.
This marks the second time in less than two years an illegal immigrant with possible MS-13 gang ties has slipped through the fingers of Montgomery County officials and gone on to commit another crime.
In July 2007, police had Milton Calderon-Melendez, an MS-13 gang member and El Salvadoran illegal immigrant, in custody on assault charges and then released him on bail.
A month later, he was charged with nearly stabbing a Gaithersburg man to death, but by then he had already left town.
Calderon-Melendez was caught in March by Prince William County police who have a policy of checking immigration status of people they arrest.
Brad Botwin, founder of anti-illegal immigration group Help Save Maryland, said Montgomery County’s policy of not closely checking immigration status is making the county a dangerous place to live.
“Here again is another example of people living in Maryland not being protected by the police,” Botwin said.
Calls to a spokesman for Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett were not returned.
17 Comments
Reader Comments:
POSTED Nov 10, 2008
NOEL: "This is a shame and a disgrace for the citizens of Montgomery County. The citizens should take to the streets and hold our representatives responsible specially Montgomery County Executive Ike Leggett. He should be forced to resign. This is not the first time an innocent life has been lost. I think that Montgomery County citizens should take maters into theif own hands and not encourage these illegals by providing jobs and call our representatives constantly and remind them that the illegal immigrant situation is getting out of hand."POSTED Nov 10, 2008
examiner reader: "All the more reason to follow Prince William county laws on illegal immigration. This pandering to the masses will get you killed"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
: "Mr. Leggett laughed at the accusation that the County is unsaf; there are groups that blame illegals for anything per Leggett. How dare he be arrogant and unconcerned about the people who pay his salary. Just proves that Gustavo Torres is running the county, not the one who was elected. Get your head out the the sand Leggett, and do your job, you are sacrificing your constituents for these lowlives to whom you have given the red carpet. Since the police do not protect, I will do what this illegal does, I'll carry my gun for my own protection against his type since neither the police nor Mr. Leggett cares about my safety. Sniper struck at the Gulf station near me, right on the edge of where Mrs. Haverstein killed, too close to here he killed the child. Enough is enough, I have lived in MoCo for 62 years and socially it has deteriorated thanks to the democrats bleeding heart. How about bleeding a bit for the victims of the scummy illegals."POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Tim R: "A wrongful death suit, civil case might just wake someone up about this. Problem is, our side doesn't have the financail support the illegals do. Concealing a dangerous weapon and he was turned loose to do harm. One just shakes their head and wonder why some elected officials REFUSE to deal with what's wrong. Forget who's responsible for putting out the fire, by God if a house is on fire, ANYONE should help put it out!!!"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Montgomeryhome toillegals: "Mr. Leggett: How many Maryland residents have to die at the hands of illegal immigrants before you will decide to curb the influx of illegal immigrants into your county?"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
protectyourresidents: "Mr. Leggett: Does the race of the victims of these horrendous crimes by illegal immigrants have anything to do with your lack of concern about these crimes?"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Betsy Bonaparte: "Had enough Maryland? Please join Help Save Maryland and we will fight this illegal invasion together"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Betsy Bonaparte: "Had enough Maryland? Please join Help Save Maryland and we will fight this illegal invasion together"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Betsy Bonaparte: "Ike Leggett, O'Malley, Joe Vallerio, Ana Sol Guitierrez, Victor Ramirez and your hispandering cohorts along with CASA- or Central American Solidarity Association with ties to Hugo Chavez- You all have BLOOD ON YOUR HANDS! I hope this poor family sues all of you for everything that you've got. What a vile disgrace you are!"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Bobby: "Americans don't care about illegal immigration. Americans don't care about their neighbors or each other. Americans deserve to sink down into the third world morass that they are sinking down to right now. People who don't care about anything, deserve nothing."POSTED Nov 10, 2008
Don't Blame Immigrants: "This is of course a horrible tragedy, but it cannot be linked to immigration in general. Immigrants (including illegal) have been proven to commit 5x fewer crimes than citizens, and It more often than not goes the other way: http://www.newsday.com/news/local/suffolk/ny-lihate1111,0,5263635.story?page=1 Hate crimes against Latinos has gone up 40% in the past year. We need real tolerance and understanding in solving very complex societal issues that stem first and foremost from poverty."POSTED Nov 10, 2008
USAPatriot: "This is just despicable. Here in Los Angeles, LAPD cannot even inquire as to a suspect's immigration status due to what is called "Special Order 40". The police chief's rationale for keeping such a stupid directive on the books is so the illegals will not be afraid to talk to police about the criminals in their midst. What politically correct nonsense. I can't say what would happen to the crime stats here if the illegals were all gone but I do know that without illegals...illegals will NOT be committing more crimes. The US has enough problems with homegrown criminals. We don't need illegals here to add to the problem too. When will the government get the message? And when will they start to listen to US instead of "immigration activists"?"POSTED Nov 10, 2008
The Democrats: "States Attorney John McCarthy is rallying to make these MS-13 get deported back to their own countries and that is good for the Americans because America can once again have a well respected profile."POSTED Nov 12, 2008
Bill A: "This story is repeated over and over again. It is a perfect example of the result of knee-jerk twerps and a bent legal system worrying more about the rights of criminals and illegal aliens than the rest of us."POSTED Nov 12, 2008
unknown.: "R.I.P tai lam <3 the good die young. i hope these men get the punishment they deserve."POSTED Nov 13, 2008
Johnson: "There are hundreds of affordable homes available in Prince William County and the City of Manassas. All legal residents are welcome!"POSTED Nov 25, 2008
Bendix20: "All our politicians are concerned about is votes and they don't care how they get them whether it is from illegals or not. Crime is on the rise you only have to look at the police blotter. While Legettt and the council bend over backwards to provide "services" to the illegal aliens they only put six police out at a time in very high crime areas such as Germantown, Montgomery Village and Silver Spring. The liberals killed this kid it is as simple as that and now they are making excuses that it is the guns fault!"