Border Patrol agent dies of injuries in possible attack
A Border Patrol agent was killed and his partner seriously injured Sunday morning in an attack in rural West Texas while they were on patrol, according to the federal authorities and Sen.Ted Cruz of Texas.
The U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided few details about what happened but said the agents were “responding to activity” near Interstate 10 in Culberson County, Texas, about 90 miles east of El Paso, when the episode occurred. The agent who survived reported they had been hurt and needed help, the agency saidin a statement.
Other agents responded and took them to a hospital, where one of the agents, Rogelio Martinez, died. His partner, whose name was not released, was in serious condition in a hospital, the authorities said.
While officials did not specify what took place, Mr. Cruz, a Republican, said in a statement Sunday afternoon that the agents had been attacked. “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,” the statement said.
The FBI was leading the investigation, and a bureau spokeswoman said it planned to release more details about the episode Monday. “We are still working hard putting the facts together,” the spokeswoman said. “It’s a very active, fastmoving investigation.”
On Twitter, President Donald Trump vowed to “seek out and bring to justice those responsible.” While it was unclear what happened, Mr. Trump linked the episode to his campaign pledge to build a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. “We will, and must, build the Wall!” he wrote.
The Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations and other agencies were searching the area for potential suspects or witnesses. Agent Martinez and his partner were assigned to the Border Patrol’s Big Bend Sector, which covers 135,000 square miles in Texas and Oklahoma.
Border Patrol records show Big Bend accounted for about 1 percent of the more than 61,000 apprehensions its agents made along the Southwest border between October 2016 and May 2017. The region’s mountains and the Rio Grande make it a difficult area for people to cross illegally into the U.S. from Mexico.
Culberson County’s southernmost area is only a few miles from the Texas-Mexico border.
The Border Patrol website lists 38 agents who have died since late 2003 — some attacked while working along the border and others killed in traffic accidents. It lists one other agent death in the line of duty this year.