Border Patrol: Arizona man killed by agents responding to gunfire report
The man fatally shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents responding to reports of gunfire in Arizona last week threw an object toward the police officers and “abruptly” raised his right arm, the agency alleged in a statement Monday.
Agents from the Ajo Border Patrol Station responded to a call for assistance from tribal police in the area who had received reports of shots fired in the near the Menagers Dam community on tribal land May 18. At about 9:30 p.m., the agents were advised that shots were fired near an individual’s residence, and they encountered the individual just a few minutes after arriving.
According to the statement, the man had thrown an object toward the police officers and it landed just a few feet away. Shortly after he threw the object, the statement says he “abruptly extended his right arm away from his body” and three agents fired at him, striking him numerous times at about 9:40 p.m.
The statement did not specify what kind of object was thrown.
At about 9:45 p.m., according to the statement, the agents began performing CPR after determining the man had no pulse. The man was not able to be airlifted immediately to a nearby hospital due to inclement weather and was pronounced dead at a hospital at 10:06 p.m., according to the statement.
The agents involved in the shooting have been placed on administrative leave as a result of using deadly force in the incident. It will be investigated by the Tohono O’odham Nation Police Department and the FBI and will be under review by Customs and Border Patrol’s (CBP) Office of Professional Responsibility.
The statement added that the three agents involved were wearing their body camera, and the agency is working to ensure it is released.
“All three agents who discharged their weapons and seven additional agents activated their body worn cameras during the incident,” the statement read. “CBP is committed to expeditious release of the body worn camera footage of this incident as soon as is appropriate to do so without impacting the ongoing law enforcement investigation.”
The Hill has reached out to U.S. Customs and Border Protection for additional comment.
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