Border agents kill driver in Texas who had carried illegal immigrants

Border Patrol agents shot and killed the driver of a car that had been carrying unauthorized immigrants in Laredo, Texas, on Friday night after the car reversed into an agent and pinned him against another vehicle, according to U. S. Customs and Border Protection.

The encounter happened at about 9: 40 p. m. local time when Border Patrol agents, working with officials from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Webb County Constable’s Office, responded to a report of possible human smuggling, the agency said.

The agents found a tractor- trailer carrying people suspected of having crossed the border illegally. The agents had started investigating when another car arrived, also carrying immigrants believed to have entered the country illegally, officials said.

Border Patrol agents and officials from Homeland Security Investigations, which is part of ICE, identified themselves as they approached the car, officials said.

But the driver “suddenly accelerated in reverse,” pinning a Border Patrol agent and a person whom he had been interviewing against another vehicle, U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.

The driver did not respond to orders to stop, and “agents deployed lethal force to stop the threat,” the statement said.

The driver, who was not identified by name, died at the scene. The Border Patrol agent, who sustained leg injuries, was taken to a hospital and later released.

Two people who were also in the car were injured, according to Matthew Hudak, chief patrol agent for the Border Patrol’s Laredo sector. One was taken to a hospital and released, and the other remained hospitalized late Saturday, he said.

Hudak said the encounter was an example of the “aggressive tactics being used by smugglers.” He said he was grateful the agent and the other two people who were hurt had sustained only minor injuries.