Assaults on Border Patrol agents increase dramatically
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TUCSON — As a Border Patrol agent continues to recover from a gunshot wound, the agency’s regional chief says the violence is part of a larger problem.
There has been a 300 percent increase in assaults on agents in the first two months of this fiscal year (October and November) compared to last year — 108 compared to 27 in the Tucson Sector.
Many of these assaults have involved rocks large enough to inflict serious injury or death. The assaults are usually used as a tactic to evade apprehension or draw agents away from other illegal smuggling activity nearby, the agency said. The Border Patrol has countered these tactics with rock-proof vehicles, enhanced body armor and the deployment of less-lethal options for self-defense.
As the Border Patrol has expanded its presence, smugglers have shown growing signs of frustration, the agency said. The rise in violence toward agents has been a result, the agency said.
In the shooting, an unidentified assailant fired on two agents who were patrolling Sunday night near Rio Rico. One agent was wounded in the ankle.
Additional shots were heard as other agents immediately responded to the area to assist.
The injured agent was airlifted to a nearby hospital for treatment. He has since been released from the hospital and remains in good spirits.
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