MSMWatch: will cop shooter's immigration status be mentioned?

Last week, two Long Beach (CA) police officers were shot by long-term criminal Oscar Gallegos and they remain in stable but critical condition. Yesterday Gallegos was shot and killed in a gun battle with Santa Ana cops.

According to KFI's Eric Leonard, Gallegos was an illegal alien. At post time, none of the news sources discussing this case have revealed that, and only two instances of an earlier AP report disclose that he was "deported at least once" (KESQ, PE.com).

As with a previous case, let's wait and see whether the non-KFI local media tries to cover up his immigration status and whether they bother to look into whether sanctuary policies played any role in his ability to remain in the U.S.

UPDATE: The unbylined AP article here dated 12/29/06 says:

Gallegos was an illegal immigrant who had been deported three times and had a criminal record dating back to 1990, including arrests for drug offenses and assault with a deadly weapon, authorities said.

And, on 12/27 (apparently not showing up in google news), the L.B. Press-Telegram said:

Gallegos, an illegal immigrant from Mexico, was deported at least three times, the last one occurring in 1996, according to immigration officials.

Now, we turn to the Los Angeles Times.

12/25's "Long Beach police search for gunman" by Richard Winton and Stuart Silverstein says he has a "long criminal history" but there's not even a hint to his status.

12/28's "Long Beach gunman slain in Santa Ana shootout" by David Haldane and Stuart Silverstein likewise offers no clue.

12/29's "60 lawmen joined hunt for suspect" by Andrew Blankstein and Garrett Therolf dances like so:

Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley said authorities were concerned that Gallegos, a Mexican national who had been deported from the United States three times, might flee the country.

12/28's "Possible shooting suspect is slain" by David Haldane and Stuart Silverstein dances too:

[Authorities] said he had also been deported in 1994, although they provided no details on where he was sent or the incident prompting the deportation.

(That also has the news that he was arrested by Long Beach police on a warrant in 2003, but the warrant was actually for someone else with the same name. He tried to sue and collect $5 million, but the suit was dismissed. The question then becomes why his status wasn't discovered while in jail and why he wasn't turned over the the INS.)

Summary: in this race for the bottom, the AP is even more accurate than the L.A. Times.

Comments

The OC register never mentions the "i" word:

Gallegos, who spent nearly a week on the run as police across the state looked for him, is a suspected career criminal who has been deported to Mexico three times, the last time in 1996, immigration officials said.

If I remember correctly, this mornings LA Times reported that this guy was a Mexican National who had been deported on three previous occasions.

Looks like the thugs can come across the border with ease and no problems.

If it was he would go free, the two cops that got shot-up are only the start how many other's have been killed by the mexican and south american gangs is in fact unknown! the rats coming by the millions will someday join the rats from the mideast!, so what will people do, Nothing but watch. but it was good news this rat was killed by the cops. but understand you maybe on the menu next.