1 hurt in shootout with Border Patrol near Casa Grande

TUCSON – One person is recovering from injuries that weren’t life threatening after a pursuit led to a shootout on Thursday night with U.S. Border Patrol agents south of Casa Grande.

An unidentified driver with two undocumented immigrants inside his vehicle fled from the border checkpoint on Federal Route 15 at about 7:20 p.m., according to U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The checkpoint is located within the Tohono O’odham Nation boundaries, south of Casa Grande.

The pursuit ended when the driver veered off the road and turned into a dirt road, striking a power pole, the agency said.

“After the vehicle struck the power pole, shots were fired from the vehicle at agents who returned fire, striking the driver,” a CBP news release said. “Agents immediately administered first aid after securing the injured driver and two uninjured illegal alien passengers in the subject’s vehicle.”

Paramedics took the driver to Chandler Regional Medical Center. He was released some time later and taken into federal custody.

Several questions about the shooting remain, such as what happened to the two migrants in the vehicle. Details about the driver’s injuries and how the pursuit started also have not been disclosed.

CBP declined to release additional information, including what will happen to the agents involved in the shooting, citing the ongoing investigation.

On Friday morning, Roy Villareal, the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector chief, said via Twitter that the driver, armed “with a rifle fired shots from a vehicle.” Villareal added that no agents were injured in the shooting.

The FBI is leading the investigation, but CBP’s watchdog body, the Office of Professional Responsibility, also is participating, along with four other local, state and federal law enforcement agencies.

The FBI also declined to release additional information because the investigation is ongoing. But the agency said it has the person in custody.

“This event is a stark reminder of the dangers our men and women in uniform confront every day in the protection of our community and this country,” CBP said in the news release.

Vehicle pursuits by Border Patrol agents have resulted in at least four deaths this year, according to information the agency has published.