A Border Patrol agent was shot near Lordsburg, New Mexico, along a local highway ahead of President Joe Biden’s expected trip to the southern border, National Border Patrol Council President Brandon Judd told the Daily Caller News Foundation Thursday.
“Border Patrol agents made a vehicle stop. In the course of the vehicle stop a suspect shot a Border Patrol agent in the chest and I believe also in the arm,” Judd said, adding that the bullet didn’t penetrate the agent’s protective vest.
“The vehicle then fled and a pursuit took place where it’s my understanding that the vehicle then crashed and rolled with the suspect fleeing,” Judd continued.
Customs and Border Protection (CBP) confirmed the incident occurred in a subsequent statement to the DCNF, where the agency said the agent had been shot “multiple” times in the chest.
“The agent was able to return fire as the suspect’s vehicle sped away. Ultimately, the fleeing vehicle was involved in a rolled over accident a few miles down the road and agents took six persons into custody. Two occupants required additional medical attention and were flown to a trauma center in El Paso, Texas,” CBP said.
The agent who was shot was medically evaluated and released. The FBI, the Office of Professional Responsibility and the New Mexico State Police are conducting probes into the incident, according to CBP.
United States Border Patrol agent Carlos Rivera is reflected in the window of a vehicle as he speaks to another agent along the border wall in downtown El Paso, Texas on June 3, 2022. – (Photo by Paul Ratje / AFP) (Photo by PAUL RATJE/AFP via Getty Images)
Agents later apprehended the suspect, who Judd said may have been a smuggler.
Biden is set to visit El Paso, Texas, which is in the same sector as Lordsburg, in the coming days. Border Patrol agents have recently seen a record surge in illegal immigration, with more than 2.3 million migrants encountered by CBP in fiscal year 2022.
Biden said Wednesday that he wanted to travel there to see “peace and security” and to “see what’s going on.” The president last visited the border in 2008, when he drove by the area, former White House press secretary Jen Psaki said in 2021.
Editor’s note: This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
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