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Park Service officer shot near border
KVOA ^ | 8/9/02

Posted on 08/09/2002 6:11:10 PM PDT by Hipixs

TUCSON - A National Park Service officer was reportedly shot and killed near the U.S.-Mexico border this afternoon.

Eyewitness News 4 has learned the shooting happened near the visitors' center of the Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument.

The alleged assailant was also shot and killed. No other injuries were reported.

It's unclear what led to the shooting. The officer's name has not been released.


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events; US: Arizona
KEYWORDS:

1 posted on 08/09/2002 6:11:10 PM PDT by Hipixs
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UPDATE:
From Park Ranger shot to death east of Lukeville

By Ignacio Ibarra
Arizona Daily Star


A National Park Service ranger at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was killed in a shootout with suspected smugglers this afternoon, said deputy Nicole Feldt of the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

The shooting took place near Puerto Blanco Loop Drive, a dirt road that runs through the national monument west of Arizona 85, Feldt said.

The ranger was responding with U.S. Border Patrol to a call for assistance from Mexican authorities about 3 miles east of Lukeville, according to Dale Thompson, chief park ranger at the Organ Pipe National Monument.

The ranger's identity was being withheld Friday pending notification of his next of kin. Thompson said the man died of a gunshot wound in the incident, which is under investigation by the Pima County Sheriff's Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The incident took place about 100 yards north of the border in a rugged stretch of desert that is known for both drug and people smuggling. Details were sketchy Friday night.

But an employee at Gringo Pass, a store near the Lukeville Port of Entry, said the shooting took place about a half mile east of the port of entry while the park service agents confronted people crossing the border with guns.

U.S. authorities said the incident began in the early afternoon, when Mexican authorities notified the U.S. Border Patrol that two men in a vehicle fleeing Mexican police had crossed onto the the park.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Ryan Scudder in Tucson confirmed that U.S. Border Patrol agents were on the ground, and in a helicopter overhead when the shooting incident occurred, but he referred all other questions to the Sheriff1s Department and FBI.

Thompson said the helicopter pilot spotted the vehicle about a half-mile from the border, and at least one of the suspects hiding in a wash not far away.

The park ranger, a commissioned law enforcement officer who was armed, and wearing body armor at the time, "was shot, but I don't know the details as to what took place. The shooter was fatally shot, but I'm not sure by who at this time," said Thompson.

He said the weapon that killed the ranger was a rifle of some type, but he could not confirm reports that the weapon used was an AK-47.

The ranger was one of four Park Service Rangers assigned to the Organ Pipe Cactus National monument Mexican authorities could not be reached for comment Friday evening.

2 posted on 08/09/2002 6:18:47 PM PDT by Hipixs
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To: Hipixs
Ranger shot and killed at Organ Pipe

Tucson Citizen

Aug. 9, 2002

A park ranger was shot and killed today on the Organ Pipe National Monument.

William Wellman, superintendent of Organ Pipe National Monument, confirmed that one of his rangers was killed in the incident. He said authorities were in the process of notifying the ranger's family.

Pima County Sheriff's Department deputies thie evening were racing to the scene of the shooting, about 150 miles from Tucson.

Organ Pipe was labeled the most dangerous in the national park system, according to a 2001 national survey conducted by the Fraternal Order of Police chapter for park rangers.
The park has become a bustling corridor for people and drug smuggling from Mexico into the United States during the past decade.

Last year, authorities caught 200,000 migrants and 700,000 pounds of drugs in Organ Pipe. Between five and eight law enforcement rangers typically patrol the 330,000-acre park, which borders Mexico for 31 miles.




Park Ranger shot to death east of Lukeville
By Ignacio Ibarra
© Arizona Daily Star



A National Park Service ranger at Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument was killed in a shootout with suspected smugglers this afternoon, said deputy Nicole Feldt of the Pima County Sheriff's Department.

The ranger’s identity was being withheld Friday pending notification of his next of kin.

Reports of the exact location of the shooting varied Friday.

Feldt said it took place near Puerto Blanco Loop Drive, a dirt road that runs through the national monument west of Arizona 85.

The ranger was responding with U.S. Border Patrol to a call for assistance from Mexican authorities about 3 miles east of Lukeville, according to Dale Thompson, chief park ranger at the Organ Pipe National Monument.

Thompson said the man died of a gunshot wound in the incident, which is under investigation by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

He said the incident took place about 100 yards north of the border in a rugged stretch of desert that is known for both drug and people smuggling. Details were sketchy Friday night.

U.S. authorities said the incident began in the early afternoon, when Mexican authorities notified the U.S. Border Patrol that two men in a vehicle fleeing Mexican police had crossed onto the the park.

U.S. Border Patrol spokesman Ryan Scudder in Tucson confirmed that U.S. Border Patrol agents were on the ground, and in a helicopter overhead when the shooting incident occurred, but he referred all other questions to the Sheriff’s Department and FBI.

Thompson said the helicopter pilot spotted the vehicle about a half-mile from the border, and at least one of the suspects hiding in a wash not far away.

The park ranger, a commissioned law enforcement officer who was armed, and wearing body armor at the time, “was shot, but I don’t know the details as to what took place. The shooter was fatally shot, but I’m not sure by who at this time.”

He said the weapon that killed the ranger was a rifle of some type, but he could not confirm reports that the weapon used was an AK-47.

The ranger was one of four Park Service Rangers assigned to the Organ Pipe Cactus National monument

Mexican authorities could not be reached for comment Friday evening.

Contact Ignacio Ibarra at (520) 432-2766 or at nacho1@mindspring.com


3 posted on 08/09/2002 6:22:32 PM PDT by TomGuy
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To: Hipixs
But an employee at Gringo Pass, a
store near the Lukeville Port of Entry,

Gringo Pass?  Is that near Wetback Ridge?

4 posted on 08/09/2002 6:46:23 PM PDT by gcruse
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To: Hipixs
Is there some reason, Constitutional or otherwise, why our military doesn't patrol this area and others like it?
5 posted on 08/09/2002 7:03:13 PM PDT by GBA
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To: GBA
The reason is that both parties are pandering to the hispanic vote. The pentagon also doesn't want this job as it would tie them down and expose them to endless bad pub and second guessing from "immigrants rights" lawyers.
6 posted on 08/09/2002 7:08:03 PM PDT by Righty1
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To: GBA
The military was used until a shepard who was using a .22 for target practice was mistaken for a bad guy and killed.
The troops were removed from the border soon after that.
7 posted on 08/09/2002 7:11:35 PM PDT by Shooter 2.5
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To: Righty1
we leave it up to politicians to solve our problems, and we get what we deserve. we need some trailblazers.
8 posted on 08/09/2002 7:21:45 PM PDT by sonofron
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To: TomGuy
Military on the border... naaaa, AK-47s ain't no biggy. Makes me sick. I don't understand why the state governments don't deploy their own troops along the border. It wouldn't take that many and it sure would send a message to the Mexicans and the FedGov.
9 posted on 08/09/2002 8:51:20 PM PDT by Texas_Jarhead
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To: Texas_Jarhead
The AK-47 is the Saturday Night Special of the assult rifles!!

Besides the weapon of choice of the Anti-terrorist squads is the H&K MP-5 Bullpup!!

10 posted on 08/09/2002 9:37:45 PM PDT by Nitro
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To: Texas_Jarhead
I don't understand it either. Now we have two choices for governor of Texas, a Hispanic drug lord, and a RINO. Probably be alot of coin flipping at the voters booth.
11 posted on 08/09/2002 9:48:49 PM PDT by MissAmericanPie
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To: Hipixs
How much border to be protected? I will guess (a wild one) 1300 miles. Give private land owners $50000 to pay for every "entry monitor" he hires. Give them the power to also "monitor" public land. 65 million. But then again, my math is bad...any help out there?
12 posted on 08/09/2002 9:57:35 PM PDT by chnsmok
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To: madfly
fyi
13 posted on 08/10/2002 8:51:17 AM PDT by Free the USA
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To: Free the USA
related thread:

Park Service Ranger killed near border
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/730735/posts

14 posted on 08/10/2002 9:37:30 AM PDT by madfly
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