MEXICO CITY, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- Mexican officials planted a weapon on the body of a dead U.S. citizen they said fled two military checkpoints, a Mexican investigation concluded.
The investigation indicated an assault rifle found in the possession of Joseph Steven Proctor was planted after he was shot by soldiers at a checkpoint in Guerrero state in August, CNN reported Tuesday.
The document, sent to the U.S. Embassy in Mexico and obtained by CNN, indicated a soldier told his commander Proctor, 32, was unarmed. In response, the commander "proceeded to send another officer with an AR-15 rifle, in order to be placed in the vehicle, using the hands of the deceased to try to simulate an attack against military personnel, and that he had died when the attack was countered," the document said.
Mexican military officials indicated Proctor tried to flee from two checkpoints on the highway. Soldiers fired at him when he passed through the first checkpoint, striking his vehicle, the report indicated. When he tried to evade the second checkpoint, soldiers opened fire and injured him.
"I am happy somebody is looking into what happened and is letting the world know," Proctor's mother, Donna Proctor, told CNN. "I am missing a son and a grandson is missing a father."
Mexican military officials said the two soldiers who fired at the second checkpoint were arrested in September and they will be tried on charges of homicide and providing a false report. The report did not include information about the commander who ordered the weapon to be planted or whether he would be disciplined.
