Agent may have been beaten to death with rocks

A U.S. Border Patrol agent who was killed while on patrol in southwest Texas may have been beaten to death by attackers wielding rocks, according to the president of the National Border Patrol Council.

Brandon Judd, president of the labor union, said Agent Rogelio Martinez died Sunday of blunt force trauma to the head.

“I have been told by several agents that it was a grisly scene, and that his injuries were very extensive,” Judd said Monday. “We believe he was struck in the head with rocks, or multiple rocks.”

Federal authorities have not yet said how Martinez was killed.

Jeannette Harper of the FBI’s El Paso, Texas, office, which is leading an investigation into the incident, said that authorities are still gathering evidence. She said reports that the agents were shot were not true.

Authorities have been searching for witnesses and potential suspects after Martinez was killed and a fellow agent was seriously injured. Officials with Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol said in a statement that the pair were “responding to activity” near Interstate 10 in Van Horn, Texas. The other agent called for help, and other agents provided medical care and took them to a hospital.

Martinez, 36, died from his injuries, officials said. The El Paso native had been a border agent since August 2013. The other agent, who was not identified by authorities, remains in the hospital in serious condition.

Following news that an agent had been killed, President Donald Trump appeared to connect Martinez’s death to border security and plugged his plans for a border wall on Twitter on Sunday night.

“Border Patrol Officer killed at Southern Border, another badly hurt. We will seek out and bring to justice those responsible. We will, and must, build the Wall!” Trump posted.

Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said on Twitter, without any further explanation, that Martinez and the other agent were “attacked,” and he also linked the incident to security on the border with Mexico.

“This is a stark reminder of the ongoing threat that an unsecure border poses to the safety of our communities and those charged with defending them,” Cruz tweeted. “I remain fully committed to working with the Border Patrol to provide them with all the resources they need to safeguard our nation.”

Mexico said it would work with the U.S. during the investigation.

By Monday afternoon, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction for what he called the “murder” of a Border Patrol agent.