Posted on 10/05/2002 9:48:56 PM PDT by Selmo
Three U.S. Border Patrol agents have reported being shot at in separate incidents west of Tucson since Sept. 23.
Only once did an agent return fire, agency spokesman Ryan Scudder said. No agents were injured, and it was unclear whether anyone was struck by the agent's gunfire.
In the first incident, about 2 a.m. on Sept. 23, an agent was driving west along the border, about a mile east of San Miguel Gate, when he heard three shots fired from the Mexican side of the border, Scudder said. One round struck the left rear side of the agent's marked Chevrolet Tahoe.
The agent left the area and did not return fire, Scudder said. The agent did not see any people or vehicles in the area where the shots originated.
San Miguel Gate is a popular but informal border crossing on the Tohono O'odham Nation, about 30 miles south of Sells and 65 miles southwest of Tucson.
At about 4 p.m. on Sept. 26, an agent was driving south toward Serapo Gate, another informal crossing on the reservation, about 20 miles west of San Miguel Gate. Another vehicle going south passed the agent, and someone fired at the agent as that vehicle passed, Scudder said.
That agent returned fire, but it was unclear whether he struck the vehicle or anyone inside, said Scudder, who did not have a vehicle description.
About 3 a.m. Tuesday, an agent working on foot had just discovered a group of border crossers in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument when he heard a gunshot, Scudder said. The agent also said he heard a bullet ricochet off a rock.
Agents searched for eight hours but could not find evidence of the bullet or the shooter, Scudder said.
The three incidents were the latest in a series of gunfire attacks on agents in Southern Arizona this year. Tucson Sector agents reported being fired on at least seven times in the fiscal year that ended Monday, Scudder said.
In March, a drug smuggler fleeing back to Mexico fired repeatedly on agents near Naco.
In May, an agent working near Papago Farms, about 100 miles southwest of Tucson, reported being fired on by Mexican soldiers driving a Humvee.
In July, an agent working in the same area reported being chased and fired on by men in a pickup, and returning fire. No one is known to have been hit in any of these three incidents.
But in August, a man believed to be a drug smuggler shot and killed National Park Service Ranger Kris Eggle as he worked alongside Border Patrol agents in Organ Pipe Cactus National Monument. In that case, Eggle's killer, Panfilo Murillo Aguila, was then shot to death by Mexican officers on their side of the border.
Edward "Bud" Tuffly, the president of the agents union in Southern Arizona, said agents are wondering whether there will be a response to the shootings.
"If something is being done, they're not being told about it," Tuffly said. "That has a demoralizing effect on the agents."
PRESIDENT BUSH, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND PROTECT AMERICA'S BORDERS!!!
I can start tomorrow.
Bush couldn’t get a clue if it was handed to him.
Sooner or later, sooner or later....
Mad Minute = deterrence.
LOL, how un PC of you. I agree, by they way.
PRESIDENT BUSH, GET OFF YOUR ASS AND PROTECT AMERICA'S BORDERS!!!
I'd like to tell you what I really think, but JimRob and his BushBots would turn me in.
Shouldn't be a pure law enforcement function anyway. They should be under DOD as a separate arm of the military, trained at military bases rather than the Federal law enforcement academy, and simply be given special law enforcement jurisdiction in the national border area.
Then, some of the border state national guard units should be converted from Army/Air National Guard units into Border Patrol National Guard units, and each company sized element, instead of meeting one weekend a month, would have duty rotated so that some folks from the company patrolled a certain stretch every day, getting relieved by someone else after their 24 hour or so shift.
This way the land would be guarded by locals with the greatest vested interest in protecting the area and also people who would be acclimatized and possess a native's understanding of the terrain.
What was it that GHWB spoke of eleven years ago?
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