Border agent hurt in Arizona gunfire

PHOENIX — A U.S. Border Patrol agent was wounded in a shooting on an Arizona ranch near the U.S.-Mexico border before dawn Tuesday in a remote area known for drug and human smuggling, the agency and the cattleman who owns the property said.

The agent was taken to a hospital after the 4:30 a.m. shooting near the community of Arivaca and several people were detained, a Border Patrol statement said, providing no information on the agent’s injuries or the circumstances of the shooting.

Jim Chilton, a fifth-generation Arizona cattleman who runs the 50,000-acre ranch, said the Border Patrol sent him an email saying the agent was alone when he was wounded on the ranch and was struck in the leg and the hand.

Several bullets also struck the agent’s protective vest, which probably saved his life, Chilton said.

“Without it, he probably would not be with us today,” said the rancher.