Border Patrol Shooting Sends Suspected Smuggler to Hospital

Posted: Jan 24, 2008 12:01 PM PST


Mark Stine KOLD News 13 Reporter

It started as a routine traffic stop here on Highway 191 just outside Douglas. It ended with one man shot and a lot of questions.

Border Patrol says their agent pulled over a Chevy Silverado Thursday morning, believed to be transporting illegal immigrants.

Cochise County investigators say when the agent went up to the truck, the driver tried to drive away, somehow trapping the agent with the truck door.

The agent was dragged 20 feet before firing one shot hitting the drivers leg.

The driver, identified as 29-year-old Luis Sanchez-Barron of Hermosillo, was taken by helicopter to University Medical Center in Tucson for treatment.

Rob Daniels with the Border Patrol said, "The first priority is to get any individual that may be injured to medical treatment."

The agent was treated in Douglas with minor injuries.

The four people still in the truck were taken to the Border Patrol station in Douglas and questioned.

The incident near Douglas comes on the heels of a Border Patrol agent killed last weekend after being hit by a suspected smugglers vehicle.

"It's a reminder of the potential of risk that's involved with this job day in and day out," Daniels told KOLD.

Cochise County investigators will continue their investigation, while Border Patrol officials say they'll also conduct an internal investigation on the shooting.

Daniels added, "Time will tell what exactly did happen. The series of events that led up to the officer involved shooting."

The agent involved in the shooting is on paid administrative leave pending an investigation, which is usual in a shooting situation like this.

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