Border Patrol Agent Killed, Another Wounded on Arizona Border

Scott Olson/Getty Images(NACO, Ariz.) — A U.S. Border Patrol Agent was shot and killed early Tuesday near Naco, Ariz., and a second agent was wounded by gunmen suspected to be drug traffickers.

The agents were part of a three man patrol in the area and were responding to a motion detection sensor before they encountered gunfire, according to Homeland Security officials.

“Border Patrol agents on patrol in Naco, Ariz., were involved in a shooting Tuesday at 1:50 a.m.,” U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.  “One agent died from his injuries and another, who sustained non-life threatening wounds, was airlifted to a hospital.”

The third agent was unharmed, officials said.

The last Border Patrol agent shot and killed along the border was Brian Terry, who was killed by bandits in a rugged part of the U.S.-Mexico border.  The guns that killed Terry were linked to a disastrous gun trafficking operation run by the Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms Bureau in Arizona called Operation Fast and Furious.

The agents killed and wounded Tuesday were assigned to a Border Patrol station that was recently named after Brian Terry.  The name of the slain agent has been withheld pending notification of his family.

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