An American toddler who was visiting relatives near the border city of Camargo was shot by the Mexican military.

The head of the federal prosecutor’s office in Tamaulipas, Guadalupe Salinas, told the Associated Press that the 18-month-old was apparently shot in the back when her family’s vehicle got in between a military vehicle and that of drug suspects being persued, according to Fox News.

Another girl in the vehicle was grazed and the toddler’s mother was hit with glass fragments.

The shooting occurred a week ago in a town across the border from Rio Grande City, Texas, but wasn’t confirmed until Thursday.

“The soldiers were following an SUV, and at that moment they (the family) got in the middle,” Salinas told the AP.

“They (soldiers) thought they were the bad guys,” Salinas said. “They got to the car and realized that, no, it was women and children.”

The toddler underwent surgery and was released from a San Antonio hospital Monday.

The toddler’s mother, Saida De La Torre, wants the soldiers to be held responsible and hopes the Mexican government keeps its word to fix her SUV.

“I was going to pick up my oldest daughter and was on the road, when we heard gun shots,” De La Torre told KRGV. “I told my cousin that we needed to go back to my parent’s house, because it looked like something was going down. When I made a turn, I saw a vehicle with soldiers traveling really fast.”

She said she saw the vehicle that sped by them and it looked like hers.

After pulling over for the road to clear, she turned to head back to her parents’ house.

But, as she drove away, suddenly the  soldiers reappeared.

“Everything seemed to be normal while I was driving back, but then I heard gun shots again,” she said. “They sounded a lot closer. I began to realize the soldiers were following me. I thought they were following the truck that I had seen speeding,” she said. “I think they got confused and thought my truck was the one they were first chasing. They started firing at us.”

De La Torre said she didn’t notice her daughter had been hit until she got to her parents’ house.

“I got to the house,” she told KRGV. “I got off the truck and ran toward my father who was outside. I screamed to him that they were shooting at us. The soldiers pulled up and parked right behind my truck,” she said. “They got off with their weapons drawn. My father spoke out and questioned their motives.”

She said the soldiers were very apologetic.

“They came to me and offered their apologies,” she said. “I could tell that they meant what they said. They treated us well during this whole process.”

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Carmine Sabia

Carmine Sabia Jr started his own professional wrestling business at age 18 and went on to become a real estate investor. Currently he is a pundit who covers political news and current events.

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