Texas National Guard soldier dies of ‘self-inflicted gunshot wound’

A Texas National Guard serviceman working on the border as part of Operation Lone Star died of a self-inflicted gunshot, Gov. Greg Abbott tweeted Tuesday. Abbott asked Texas to pray for the soldier’s family. “Cecilia and I are deeply saddened to hear of the tragic loss of a soldier with the Texas National Guard. Our hearts go out to the family and loved ones of the soldier,” he said in a statement. “Texas Rangers are leading the investigation, as the Texas National Guard and Texas Department of Public Safety coordinate with local law enforcement.” Abbott also urged “any Texan who is in crisis... to seek help immediately from a family member, loved one, or a mental health service.”

The governor said mental health resources are offered to military members by the Texas Military Department and the state’s human and health services agency. Abbott and lawmakers have poured more than $4 billion in the two-year budget cycle that began Sept. 1, 2021, into Operation Lone Star, a fivefold increase over previous cycles. It’s a response to what he calls a crisis of President Joe Biden’s making, with the federal government largely responsible for border security. The money pays for thousands of soldiers to assist both state police and federal Border Patrol agents, as they apprehend migrants near the Rio Grande River and on private ranches. The unprecedented state effort also has included criminal prosecution of migrants for state misdemeanors, including trespassing and criminal mischief. That has entailed building new detention centers and adding public defenders. Abbott also has ordered that migrants be placed on charter buses and sent to Washington, D.C., New York and Chicago. The state also has funded a portion of permanent border wall in Starr County and cyclone fences or concertina wire for scores of miles along the border, mostly in Maverick and adjacent Kinney County.