Border Patrol agent shoots man after chase east of valley

Injured man was armed, airlifted to Palm Springs hospital after shooting

2:52 PM, Jan. 27, 2011 | 4 Comments

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot an armed man who led the agent on a chase Thursday morning near Chiriaco Summit, a sheriff’s spokeswoman said.

The names of the injured man and the agent who shot him have not been released.


The man wouldn’t stop when an agent or agents tried to pull over his sport utility vehicle about 6:45 a.m. near the unincorporated community, which is about 30 miles east of Indio along Interstate 10, Deputy Herlinda Valenzuela said.


The driver, who was armed, was shot in a confrontation after the chase, said Valenzuela, a spokeswoman for the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department.


The man was airlifted to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, but Valenzuela did not have any information on his condition.


The sheriff’s department is handling the shooting investigation.


FBI agents were also called to the scene Thursday morning, said Border Patrol Agent Aaron Van Zee, a spokesman for U.S. Customs and Border Protection.


Information about how long the agent who shot the man has been with the Border Patrol and whether he or she had been put on leave was not available Thursday afternoon, Van Zee said.

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