Guard Denies Rumor of 2nd Honduras Shooting

SACRAMENTO — California National Guard officials said Tuesday that guardsmen stationed in Honduras were not involved in a rumored second shooting incident earlier this month.

“No shots were fired by any folks on May 4. Zero. Nothing. Nada ,” said Col. Don Foley, a spokesman for the guard.

The dispatch of 30 California National Guard troops to protect road-building equipment in Honduras has come under fire from some Democratic legislators who are pushing for a law that would prevent the guard from going to foreign countries where armed combat has occurred.

The report of a second shooting incident involving the California troops was passed on by Assemblyman Tom Bates (D-Oakland), who said he received a tip from an anonymous source.

The same tipster, Bates said, had earlier reported that a shooting incident involving the California guard took place April 24. After initially denying that report, guard officials later confirmed that a guardsman fired three warning shots into the air April 24 when he and other sentries spotted an apparent intruder.