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12-15-2010, 06:19 PM #1
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FIFTH Suspect Arrested in Murder of Agent Brian Terry
5 people now in custody
Possible suspect apprehended in Tucson border agent killing
Fernanda Echavarri and Brady McCombs
Arizona Daily Star Arizona Daily Star
Posted: Wednesday, December 15, 2010 7:46 am
Authorities have apprehended an illegal immigrant they say fits the description of the a fifth suspect in an overnight gunbattle that killed a Border Patrol agent.
Santa Cruz County Sheriff's deputies found the man just before 2 p.m. on southbound Interstate 19 south of Rio Rico about 10 miles from the Mexico border, said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada. The man has been turned over to the Border Patrol. No more information is available about the suspect.
Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, of the agency's swat team called Bortac, was killed when he and fellow agents exchanged fire with a group of five people believed to be border bandits about 11 p.m. Tuesday in a remote area west of Rio Rico, said FBI spokeswoman Brenda Nath.
Agent Brandon Judd, president of the agents' union in Arizona, Local 2544, was the first to publicly say bandits were responsible for the killing. Bandits are criminals who try to rip-off loads of drugs and people from smugglers.
Four of the five suspected bandits were in custody Wednesday morning, including one man who was hospitalized for gunshot wounds, he said. The severity of his injuries are unknown. The search for the fifth suspected bandit lasted much of the day and involved officers on horseback and in helicopters scanning the canyons and hills surrounding the Nogales area.
Terry and his fellow agents from the Bortac team were in the area where the shooting occurred because of the high levels of illegal activity involving armed border bandits.
"It wasn't a surprise encounter," Judd said. "They knew what they were going into."
Border Patrol spokesman Eric Cantu declined to confirm Judd's account.
Bandits are the lowest of the low among criminals operating along the border, despised even by the drug and people smuggling organizations, Judd said.
"This is the biggest scum that you are going to run up against," Judd said.
The shooting occurred in a remote area near Forest Service Road 4197, west of Interstate 19 , said Santa Cruz County Sheriff Tony Estrada.
When deputies arrived at Peck Canyon Drive and Circulo Sombrero in Rio Rico, they found Terry dead from gunshot wounds, Estrada said.
The remote area where the shooting occurred is an area frequently used by drug traffickers and people-smugglers.
"All these canyons in Santa Cruz County are notorious for smuggling humans and drugs," Estrada said. "Obviously, it is a very dangerous situation for anyone patrolling those remote areas, particularly for Border Patrol. There is always that threat."
Santa Cruz Sheriff's Department was only serving in a support role, Estrada said. The FBI is handling the investigation.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the Terry family for their tragic loss," CBP Commissioner Alan Bersin said in a news release. "Our commitment to Agent Terry and his family is that we will do everything possible to bring to justice those responsible for this despicable act."
Terry wasn't married. He is survived by parents and siblings, Judd said. He called Michigan home and his parents live there. He was a police officer for nine years in Detroit before joining the Border Patrol just over three years ago, Judd said.
Terry was a great guy and well liked by colleagues, said Judd, who worked with Terry in Naco. He was a big, muscular guy who stood about 6-foot-4. He was ideal for Bortac, one of the Border Patrol's elite crews.
"He was, by all accounts, an absolutely outstanding agent," Judd said. "He was everything you would want on this team."
Terry was strong-willed, very focused and "lived to protect his country," said his older sister, Michelle Terry-Balogh via phone from her home in southern Detroit.
Born in Flat Rock, Mich. Terry served as a Marine, went to college and worked for two different Michigan police departments before joining the Border Patrol three years ago.
The shooting elicited mixed feelings for Judd, who is president of the agents' union in Arizona, Local 2544.
"You are very saddened when you hear something like this, especially when you know the individual," Judd said. "You are also upset that the activity is such that it continues to present a very dangerous situation for our agents."
Check back with AzStarnet.com for updates.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/crime/a ... 03286.html
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12-15-2010, 06:20 PM #2
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Border Patrol deaths, Tucson Sector
The last Border Patrol agent killed on duty in the Tucson Sector was Michael V. Gallagher, 32, who was killed in September in a wreck patrolling on the Tohono O'odham Nation.
Prior to that, Agent David Webb died in a rollover crash west of Tucson in November 2006.
In March 2006, Agent Nicholas Greenig, 28, died when a car he was riding in hit a cow on Arizona 86 near Why, 110 miles west of Tucson.
With Tuesday's death, at least 10 agents have been killed in the line of duty in the Tucson Sector of the U.S. Border Patrol. Previous deaths:
• Michael V. Gallagher, 2010, crash.
• David Webb, 2006, crash.
• Nicholas Greenig, 2006, crash.
• George DeBates, 2004, crash.
• Alexander Kirpnick, 1998, shot by drug smugglers
• Victor Ochoa, 1983, crash.
• George Pringle, 1940, crash.
• Lon Parker, 1926, killed in shootout with liquor smugglers.
• William McKee, 1926, shot by liquor smugglers.
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12-16-2010, 04:19 PM #3
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- Nov 2006
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Related Postings:
Posted 12-15
Border Patrol Agent Killed in Southern Arizona
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221535.html
Border Patrol agent shot, killed near Rio Rico
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221531.html
Posted 12-16
Border agent killed: bandits to blame?
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221679.html
Manhunt continues in Border Patrol agent's slaying
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221676.html
AZ: Douglas, Rio Rico residents react to agent's murder
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221678.html
Slain Agent known as Cop's Cop
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221675.html
Murdered Border agent's blood on the hands of politicians, b
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221780.html
Posted 12-17:
Border Agent Brian Terry murder investigation continues
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221788.html
Sheriffs: Agents death shows need for more Federal help
http://www.alipac.us/ftopict-221787.html
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