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Posted: Dec 15, 2010 7:41 AM ESTUpdated: Dec 15, 2010 11:55 AM EST
Click image to enlargeNOGALES, AZ (KOLD) - A Border Patrol agent has been shot and killed late Tuesday night in an area near Rio Rico, Ariz.
Agent Brian Terry, 40, encountered a group of suspects when he was shot at, a release from the Border Patrol detailed.
Terry was waiting with a team of other agents in a remote desert area when a gunfight brokeout with the suspects, a union leader representing the Border Patrol said.
National Border Patrol Council President T.J. Bonner says the agents were trying to catch suspected bandits who target illegal immigrants for robbery.
Four of those suspects were arrested. One is still at large, authorities said.
Border Patrol officials and officers with the Department of Public Safety are scouring the area with K9 units in an effort to find that suspect.
The incident happened just after 11 p.m. in the Peck Canyon area just north of Nogales.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations is now involved in the case and is looking into the agent's death, Border Patrol spokesman Eric Cantu said.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Terry family for their tragic loss," said CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin. "Our commitment to Agent Terry and his family is that we will do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for this despicable act."
KOLD News 13 has dispatched reporter Lauren Burgoyne to the scene.
Stay with KOLD News and KOLD.com on your mobile phone, computer and TV for updates to this developing story.
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Border Patrol deaths
The last Border Patrol agent killed on duty in the Tucson Sector was Michael V. Gallagher, 32, who was killed in Spetember in a wreck patrolling on the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Prior to that, Agent David Webb died in a rollover crash west of Tucson in November 2006.
In March 2006, Agent Nicholas Greenig, 28, died when a car he was riding in hit a cow on Arizona 86 near Why, 110 miles west of Tucson.
With Tuesday's death, at least 10 agents have been killed in the line of duty in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. Previous deaths:
• Michael V. Gallagher, 2010, crash.
• David Webb, 2006, crash.
• Nicholas Greenig, 2006, crash.
• George DeBates, 2004, crash.
• Alexander Kirpnick, 1998, shot by drug smugglers
• Victor Ochoa, 1983, crash.
• George Pringle, 1940, crash.
• Lon Parker, 1926, killed in shootout with liquor smugglers.
• William McKee, 1926, shot by liquor smugglers.
Border Patrol agent shot and killed south of Tucson
| Posted: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 7:46 amA Border Patrol agent was shot and killed Tuesday night after confronting a group of people near Rio Rico, officials said.
Agent Brian A. Terry died after the shooting, said Eric Cantu, a Border Patrol spokesman.
Terry was shot after he encountered several people near Rio Rico, Cantu said. At least four people are in custody Wednesday morning and officials said early today they continue to search for one more person in the case.
Santa Cruz County deputies were called to the scene in a remote area near Forest Service Road 4197, west of Interstate 19 just after 11 p.m., said Sheriff Tony Estrada.
The call reported shots fired and a Border Patrol agent shot, Estrada said.
When deputies arrived at Peck Canyon Drive and Circulo Sombrero in Rio Rico, they found Terry dead from gunshot wounds, Estrada said.
The remote area where the shooting occurred is an area frequently used by drug traffickers and people-smugglers.
"All these canyons in Santa Cruz County are notorious for smuggling humans and drugs," Estrada said. "Obviously, it is a very dangerous situation for anyone patrolling those remote areas, particularly for Border Patrol. There is always that threat."
Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department was only serving in a support role, Estrada said. The FBI is handling the investigation.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Terry family for their tragic loss," CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin said in a news release. "Our commitment to Agent Terry and his family is that we will do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for this despicable act."
Terry was a great guy and well liked by colleagues, said agent Brandon Judd, who worked with Terry in Naco. He was a big, muscular guy who stood about 6-foot-4, Judd said.
Terry had been with the Border Patrol for little more than three years. He had worked as a police officer before joining the Border Patrol.
The shooting elicited mixed feelings for Judd, who is president of the agents' union in Arizona, Local 2544.
"You are very saddened when you hear something like this, especially when you know the individual," Judd said. "You are also upset that the activity is such that it continues to present a very dangerous situation for our agents."
There was no more information immediately available Wednesday morning about the shooting.
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