Suspect ID'd in Border Patrol cap shooting

Suspect ID'd in Border Patrol cap shooting
7-Eleven clerk targeted for opposition to illegal aliens

Authorities in Colorado say they have issued an arrest warrant for a man suspected of shooting at a 7-Eleven store because the clerk had worn a cap – while off-duty – supporting the U.S. Border Patrol.

The clerk, Bruno Kirchenwitz, who alleges he then was fired over the incident related to his opposition to illegal aliens, already had left the building and was unhurt in the shooting. Another cashier who was on duty and several customers were unhurt.

But authorities in Basalt, where an estimated 75 percent of the convenience store's customers are Hispanic, have named Ricardo Ramirez, 22, as a suspect on counts of first-degree assault and felony menacing for the June 26 attack.

Basalt police chief Keith Ikeda confirmed the name of the suspect, and police said they are working on the assumption the gunfire was in retaliation for the Border Patrol cap the clerk wore to protest illegal immigration.

Basalt police said Ramirez made a purchase at the store with his credit card, then allegedly returned with another man after a few minutes to pump five shots at the store.

Kirchenwitz, 54, an immigrant from Germany, said he wore his cap while off-duty, and often has complained that illegal aliens undercut wages for other workers.

Corporate officials said they dismissed him shortly after the shooting when an internal review raised their concerns about his conduct. However, officials declined to elaborate, saying their corporate policy bars disclosure of personnel matters.

The announcement came shortly after the two store customers confronted Kirchenwitz over his hat, and then a series of rifle shots blasted through the store's window in front of the cashier's station.

Kirchenwitz has continued to insist he was dismissed for exercising his free-speech rights. He recently passed a lie detector test, paid for by Denver's KHOW radio, that indicated he didn't instigate the clash with the two men.

Ikeda also reported a car, 1996 tan Honda sedan with Colorado license plates, was reported leaving the area, and three shell casings for .30-caliber bullets, used for an M-1 carbine rifle, were found near the store.

Authorities said Ramirez' name arose during interviews with witnesses.

Kirchenwitz said the two men who confronted him came into the store and asked if he was the man who wears a U.S. Border Patrol baseball cap.

Kirchenwitz acknowledged he wears the cap to and from work but never on the job.

The men, he said, threatened him with something like, "We're going to show you what we think of that hat when we catch you alone."

Kirchenwitz told the Aspen Times he "smiled and laughed and made jokes, then shooed them out the door."

The men said they would wait outside while he finished his shift, but they left a short time later, at about 9:30 p.m., said Kirchenwitz, who got off duty at 10 p.m. then caught a bus. The shots were fired a short time later.