Officials: Man Shot by Border Patrol Agents After Opening Fire
What to Know
- The suspect, Patrick Gary Schlegel, was involved in a pursuit after failing to stop for border agents.
- Schlegel fired at both a Border Patrol agent and a CBP helicopter during the incident.
- The agent returned fire, critically injuring Schlegel, who was transported to a Tucson hospital for surgery.
TUCSON, Arizona -- A convicted human smuggler fired a gun at a federal helicopter and at a Border Patrol agent on the ground who returned fire, critically injuring him, in an incident Tuesday south of Tucson, investigators said.
No federal agents were injured, said Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos, whose agency is jointly investigating the incident with the Federal Bureau of Investigations and U.S. Customs and Border Protection, the Border Patrol's parent agency.
The suspect, U.S. citizen Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34, was flown by helicopter to a Tucson hospital where he underwent surgery and was listed in serious but stable condition Tuesday night, Nanos said.
Schlegel, a resident of Sahuarita, was first spotted by border agents earlier Tuesday morning with other passengers in his vehicle, Nanos said.
Schlegel initially escaped the border agents, and his passengers fled. But later, around 7:30 a.m., a border agent spotted Schlegel's Dodge pickup truck driving on West Arivaca Road and attempted a traffic stop, Nanos said. Schlegel failed to yield to the agent, prompting a pursuit and later a foot chase after Schlegel exited his truck and ran.
During the encounter Schlegel fired a handgun at the agent and at an airborne helicopter from CBP's Air and Marine Operations unit, before he was critically wounded by the agent's gunfire, officials said.
"In this case, we believe … that agent acted lawfully," Nanos said. "That’s our belief based on what we know today at this moment. The investigation is still ongoing; there may be other things that show up."
Tuesday's shooting comes on the heels of the fatal shootings of two U.S. citizens by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis this month, which have prompted large-scale protests across the U.S.
State law enforcement in Minnesota said federal immigration officials blocked the state agency from accessing the crime scene where Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse, was recording immigration operations on his phone before he was shot multiple times by border agents on Jan. 24.
Nanos acknowledged the growing outrage around use-of-force incidents involving federal immigration agents, and he gave assurances that his agency has full access to all evidence and will conduct a thorough investigation in collaboration with the FBI and CBP's Office of Professional Responsibility.
"I understand clearly the sensitivity of these types of events, in today's world and climate," Nanos said. "This case, like any case we deal with, will be done by what we call the rule of law."
The FBI's Violent Crime and Gang Task Force, which includes CBP's OPR and the Pima County Sheriff's Department, has been processing the crime scene, Janke said.
"We have and will continue to conduct witness, victim and subject interviews, review and analyze surveillance footage, and recover and analyze evidence," he said.
The FBI's request for local law enforcement to assist in the investigation is normal, the sheriff's department said in a news release.
"Such requests are standard practice when a federal agency is involved in a shooting incident within Pima County and consistent with long standing relationships built through time to promote transparency," the release said.
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