Border agent fires into SUV after being hit twice

Friday, 31 August 2007

Assailant flees into Canada; 2nd officer in wreck

SWANTON – A U.S. Customs and Border Protection Border Patrol Agent assigned to the Swanton Sector fired his weapon at an unknown driver who Thursday morning struck him with his vehicle near Alburgh Springs. Another agent, hurrying to aid his colleague, was involved in an auto accident.

The unidentified agent had stopped the vehicle, a gray SUV that had entered the country illegally from Canada, officials from the agency said.

As the agent approached the vehicle, the driver put the SUV in gear and hit the agent twice. The agent, who was uninjured in the fearing for his life, fired one round from his weapon into the driver’s compartment. The driver fled back into Canada with the vehicle.

It is unknown whether the driver of the SUV was injured during his assault on the agent, said authorities today.

A second border control agent responding to the call for assistance was injured when the patrol vehicle he was driving rolled over on an “unimprovedâ€