NM Hunting Guide, Client Wounded on Mexico border.

NOTE: At the request of the family, all photos have been removed from this post.

Hunting Guide, Client Wounded on Mexico border.

For release: 1/8/2017

Gila Livestock Growers Association

Laura Bryant

While guiding an aoudad hunt in Presidio county Texas, a New Mexico hunting guide was shot in the abdomen and seriously wounded Friday night after what appears to have been an attempt to kidnap his clients on the Mexico border.  

The guide remains in critical condition in a Texas Hospital.    His client was also shot in the arm and is expected to recover.  

Multiple assailants fired upon an RV parked near a hunting lodge where the party was staying for the hunt.  The contracted hunter and his wife were asleep in the in the RV when the attack began.  

Walker Daugherty, 26, of Chloride, NM was wounded while attempting to stop the assailants from taking the RV with his clients inside.  He was assisted by another guide, Michael Bryant; the men were staying inside the lodge with their wives.  

 

Per a family source, everyone was in bed preparing for an early hunt, the guides and cooks inside the house and the clients in the rental RV parked nearby.  Walker heard voices outside and went to see what the noises were, he witnessed men with guns attempting to take the RV, he then ran back inside to get help.  Walker and Michael armed themselves to defend and protect the client and to attempt to deter the assailants while the hunter attempted to escape in the RV which was being shot at repeatedly.  The vehicle is riddled with bullet holes from the attack and suffered other structural damage.  

The attack lasted long enough for Walker to run back to the house and get more ammunition, when he was close to the door his sister, saw him get shot and was able to drag him inside the house and away from the gunfire.  The women in the lodge were able to get a spotty cell signal and call 911. 

The family has been earning a living guiding and outfitting out of the remote ranch for years.   The business had experienced several thefts and had been working with the US Border Patrol to apprehend illegal aliens in the area in the past month.   The theft events and the attack occurred in the United States.  

The attack has the family concerned that the attack was not just an attempt to rob the property.    They believe the assailants intended to kill all the party.   The attackers were strategically placed around the lodge and the men were fired upon from different areas.   

The client’s wife, a nurse, was able to help keep Walker from bleeding to death while they waited several hours for a medivac helicopter to take him to El Paso.   It took local law enforcement over an hour to get to the remote scene.  The family says the men and their wives were grilled about the veracity of their account by Law Enforcement and the assailants got away and likely returned to Mexico.  Kidnapping, along with drug and human trafficking, has become common along the Mexico border especially if there are reasons to believe that an intended victim is a person of means.   The family, however, are self-employed outfitters earning a living as guides although the clients were likely the intended targets.    

Friends have set up a go fund me account to assist with medical expenses and the long recovery process that Walker is expected to endure.  He is uninsured.   https://www.gofundme.com/help-for-walker-daugherty

UPDATE
Pensacola doctor attacked on Texas hunting trip    

PRESIDIO COUNTY, Texas (WEAR) — A Pensacola doctor is recovering after he and another person were attacked while on a hunting trip in Texas.

The incident occurred while Edwin Roberts and several others were at the Circle Dug Ranch, which is 10 miles North West of Candelaria, Texas on Friday around 9:30 p.m.
Chief Deputy Joel Nunez said he responded to a call “of shots fired, multiple shooters and two individuals severely injured”.
Edwin Roberts, a chiropractor in Pensacola, was shot once in the arm according to his family. Reports indicate Walker Daughtry was in the abdomen.
Channel 3 News spoke to Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominquez. He would not elaborate on how the shooting happened or release any details on the case since it is still under investigation.
In a news release, Sheriff Dominquez did mention the attack was allegedly not linked to “cross border violence”.
Presidio Sheriff’s Department, the Texas Rangers and the Texas Department of Public Safety are investigating. The U.S. Border Patrol also responded to the scene.
Roberts, 54, was rushed to El Paso University Medical Center. He’s has undergone a second surgery.
Walker, 26, was flown via helicopter to El Paso for a gunshot to the abdomen.
According to a Go Fund Me account for Walker Daugherty, it states "they were involved in a shootout with some illegals, when the illegals tried to steal Walker's .. RV with them still inside" Ashely Boggs, Daugherty's girlfriend said.
The Circle Dug Ranch sits on 20,000 acres and is located in a mountainous area in Presidio County, Texas.
Edwin Roberts is a longtime business owner of Pensacola. He owns A Chiropractic Tradition, which is located on Mobile Highway.

NM hunting guide, client wounded in alleged border attack

By Lauren Villagran

A New Mexico hunting guide and his client have been hospitalized following a shooting in West Texas over the weekend that a family friend described as an attack by “illegal aliens.”
The Presidio County Sheriff’s Office appeared to question that version in a press release issued Monday, saying “there is no evidence to support allegations of ‘cross border violence.'”
Walker Daugherty, 26, of Chloride — a ranching community about three hours south of Albuquerque near the Gila National Forest — was guiding an exotic big game hunt in Presidio County, Texas, when his party was allegedly attacked by unknown assailants.
Multiple assailants fired on an RV, where hunter Edwin Roberts and his wife were sleeping. The hunting guides were staying in a lodge nearby.
Daugherty was shot in the abdomen when he tried to stop the assailants from taking the RV with his clients inside, according to a press release issued by the Gila Livestock Growers Association.
Roberts, 59, was shot in the arm. Both men were transported to an El Paso hospital.
Rancher and growers association president Laura Schneberger authored the statement, which is based on the Daugherty family’s account. In addition to their hunting guide business, the Daugherty family runs a ranch in New Mexico.
The Daugherty family could not be immediately reached by phone.
“The attack has the family concerned that the attack was not just an attempt to rob the property,” the growers association statement said. “They believe the assailants intended to kill all the party. The attackers were strategically placed around the lodge and the men were fired upon from different areas.”
The Presidio County Sheriff’s Office responded to a 911 call at about 9:30 p.m. on Friday night from the Circle Dug Ranch near Candelaria, a two hour’s drive from the county seat of Marfa.
Chief Deputy Sheriff Joel Nunez responded to the scene.
“We are still investigating details of the shooting,” Sheriff Danny Dominguez said in a statement. “However there is no evidence to support allegations of ‘cross border violence’ as released by some media sources.”
Both men remain in the hospital and are being treated for their injuries, according to the sheriff’s statement.
The terrain of Presidio County, near Big Bend National Park, is rugged like New Mexico’s Bootheel, notoriously difficult to patrol for both local law enforcement and Border Patrol.
The group was hunting aoudad, a type of big-horned North African sheep that were introduced to West Texas. The ranch where they were hunting is right on the Mexican border.
A GoFundMe website account set up to provide financial support to Daugherty had raised nearly $17,000 by 185 donors in one day. He is undergoing surgery today and does not have medical insurance, according to the site.

UPDATE 2 

Sheriff denies “cross border violence” in Candelaria shooting

By CAMERON DODD

...A press release appeared Sunday purporting to detail the incident from the perspective of those on the ranch. The shooting started after what appeared to be an attempted theft of a recreational vehicle (RV) parked near the hunting lodge and potentially an attempt at kidnapping or killing the hunters sleeping in the vehicle, according to the press release. In this telling, Daugherty was wounded while attempting to stop assailants from shooting at and stealing the RV and the “assailants got away and likely returned to Mexico.”
The press release has been shared around social media and several blogs, including Thewesterner.blogspot.com where the incident is described as a “border ambush.” Another blog claims the attack was launched by “Mexican kidnappers.”
The story is similar to what the 911 caller told dispatch and what witnesses told law enforcement during preliminary interviews, Deputy Nuñez said.
But according to the investigation by the sheriff’s office and Border Patrol, there is no evidence to support the account.
“We’re still investigating and waiting for ballistics results from [Texas Department of Public Safety] lab in El Paso,” Nuñez said. “Right now, there is no evidence to suggest there was any ‘cross-border violence’ situation there.”
The sheriff’s office was supported in their investigation by about 30 U.S. Border Patrol agents from Air and Marine units from El Paso and agents with human and drug detecting dogs.
“[Border Patrol has] expert trackers who say there were no signs at the time of any individuals on the ranch other than those staying there,” Nuñez said....

UPDATE 3

Exclusive: Gunmen targeted family's RV before shootout

by Jasmine Anderson

PRESIDIO COUNTY, Texas (WEAR) — Several men armed with guns tried stealing 59-year-old Edwin Roberts' RV before ambushing the people inside, Roberts' family claims.
The Pensacola chiropractor and his wife were having a relaxing dinner after a day of hunting at the Circle Dug Ranch when they heard a noise a the door.
"My mom’s dog starts barking. There’s someone trying to get into the RV. My dad gets his weapon, identifies he has a weapon and tells whoever it is to leave. They say in English, 'we got weapons and we want your RV'," his son, Edwin Roberts II, said.
Two men with pistols were trying shoot their way inside.
Roberts went for the wheel - he honked the horn and alerted the camp - and got shot in the process. He was able to turn the RV on and drive it towards the camp house.
Two hunting guides heard the commotion and came outside to see what was going on. They ran back inside to grab their shotguns when they saw multiple people attacking the RV.
"Then he came back out, the RV was moving now and he thought they gotten in there and had either took my parents hostage or hurting them, so he tried to shoot the RV tires out with a buck shot which he did to stop the RV," Roberts II explained.
Walker Daugherty, 26, was shot in abdomen.
"All of a sudden, Walker is down. He gets hit from where the RV was. From a different direction, in the stomach, so he’s’ out cold," Roberts II said.
Roberts' wife put a tourniquet on her husband and applied pressure on Daugherty's wound, too. With the suspects gone an immediate call for help was out of the question - they didn't have reception.
"It takes several hours to get out there, and from what I understand, the military sent a helicopter. They life-flighted Mr. walker to El Paso and they took my dad to the city of Presidio and put him on a plane and took him to El Paso," Roberts II said.
Both men had surgery that night. Roberts had been shot three times, had some broken bones and lots of soft tissue damage.
Roberts' family says he has been discharged from the hospital and will fly into Pensacola Tuesday night.

UPDATE 4

 Investigators believe Presidio County ranch shooting was friendly fire, not border violence

A shocking development in a story CBS 7 first broke over the weekend.

Two hunters who were shot in a remote ranch along the Mexican-border in Presidio County claimed illegal immigrants ambushed them Friday night.
But it turns out investigators believe this was just a case of friendly fire among each other.
Presidio County Sheriff Danny Dominguez has been saying all along that there was no indication of cross border violence here.
He tells us the investigation shows that Walker Daughetry shot Edwin Roberts and another hunting guide in their group, Michael Bryant, shot Walker.
...Here’s how investigators believe the shooting happened: Walker thought illegals were inside the RV that Edwin and his wife were in, in an attempt to kidnap them.
Instead of announcing himself, Walker allegedly tried opening the RV.
That’s when Edwin fired off a round from inside the RV missing Walker.
Walker immediately ran inside his cabin to grab his gun and to get backup from Michael.
With rumors of border violence spilling over from Mexico to the United States, Sheriff Dominguez believes this may have caused the hunters to be paranoid...
In the mean time, a ballistic test will be conducted to determine which guns the bullets came from. 
...CBS 7 was able to speak with Walker’s fiancé over the phone who was at the ranch that night of the shooting.
She says she cannot comment on the case until it is completed, but did want to mention that they’ve experienced multiple encounters with illegals last month, and claims to have had hundreds of dollars worth of supplies stolen by them at the ranch.

UPDATE

Update 2
Posted by Kayla Criner

8 mins ago

 

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We have amazing news! Walker is improving. He is now able to walk around. I will continue to delete any negative comments made on here! If you have nothing nice to say, do not say anything at all! The SIX people who were involved know what they saw. I will continue to only believe the people who I know as well as their integrity and honesty, as opposed to the "authorities" who may have skewed or unseen agendas. I will continue to pray for those who have it in their hearts to assume that this is a "SCAM" as so many have stated, as well as the six people who were involved and traumatized by this event. Thank you from the bottom of everyone's hearts, friends and family, for those that have shown nothing but love and support for the six of them as they have to face not only backlash from their own community, but from all LEO's claiming that this did not happen. PRAISE GOD that none of them were killed.