http://kvoa.com/Global/story.asp?S=5332520

Border Patrol agent fatally shoots man rock-throwing man

YUMA, Ariz. -- A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a man who was throwing rocks at officers from the Mexican side of the border late Saturday, officials said.

The incident began after agents spotted a suspicious vehicle near the Andrade Port of Entry west of the California-Arizona border, just north of the international border and alongside the Colorado River.

The driver fled and then tried to swim across a pond along the river in an effort to return to Mexico, the agency said in a press release.

But the man began to struggle to stay afloat and agents threw him a flotation device and began to try to rescue him. Several people on the other side of the border then began throwing rocks at the agents, and one officer was struck in the head.

The officer then shot at a man who was getting ready to throw another rock, the Border Patrol said. Mexican authorities took the man to a hospital, where he died.

Attacks on Border Patrol agents have become more common in recent years, and this year agents say they're seeing smugglers become even more violent as more federal resources make crossing into the U.S. ever more difficult.

Smugglers are throwing softball-sized rocks, hunks of concrete and whole bricks at agents, either out of frustration or to try to get authorities to back off.