Tensions High After Soboba Shootings

A couple of days after a deadly shooting on the Soboba Indian reservation, tensions remain high between the tribe and authorities. Two tribe members died Monday in a shootout with Riverside County sheriff's deputies. Tribal officials say the deputies overreacted. The sheriff's department says they were ambushed. KPCC's Inland Empire reporter Steven Cuevas has more on the story.

Steven Cuevas: The war of words escalated Tuesday at a news conference by tribal chairman Robert Salgado. He warned that deputies were there to shoot first, and ask questions later.

Robert Salgado: And to be locked out of your own home and be treated like you're in Iraq?!

Cuevas: Deputies say when they got to the reservation Monday night to respond to calls about "shots fired," someone fired at them. The deputies say they chased two shooters into the hills near the Soboba Casino. The pursuit ended in a shootout that left two suspects, tribe members.

It was the third alleged "ambush" of sheriff's deputies on the reservation since December. This one may have been retaliation for one of those prior deputy-involved shootings. Whatever the case, tensions have boiled over.

Jeff Stone: This has to stop.

Cuevas: Riverside County supervisor Jeff Stone at Tuesday's board meeting.

Stone: We will work cooperatively with the Soboba tribe, with the sheriff, to insure not only the safety of residents on the reservation, but the lives of public safety officers that put their lives on the line every time they set foot on the reservation and are subjected to random gunfire.

Cuevas: Tribal leaders are set to meet Friday with officials from Riverside County, the sheriff's department, and Bureau of Indian Affairs.