A Border Patrol agent shot a person in Arizona and left them in critical condition on Tuesday morning, local officials say, marking at least the sixth person shot by federal immigration agents in just three weeks.
Around 7:30 am local time, emergency responders arrived on the scene, in Arivaca, Arizona, to a person in custody and in critical condition, according to the Santa Rita Fire District and American Medical Response.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department confirmed that there was a “shooting involving U.S. Border Patrol.” The sheriff’s department says that it is leading the investigation into the agent’s use of force, and it is working in coordination with the local FBI office and Customs and Border Protection (CBP).
“We ask the community to remain patient and understanding as this investigation moves forward,” the department said in a statement Tuesday. “PCSD will thoroughly examine all aspects of the incident, however, these investigations are complex and require time.”
Arivaca is situated on the U.S.-Mexico border, south of Tucson. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) agents have been in the midst of a months-long raid in the Tucson area which has been surging in recent days, local reports say.
The shooting is the fifth by DHS officers in just three weeks. Just on Saturday, a Border Patrol agent shot and killed Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Two weeks before, a federal officer shot a man in the leg in Minneapolis, days after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent killed Renee Nicole Good.
NBC reported earlier this month that DHS officers have shot at least 12 people since September, while Washington Post reported Tuesday that DHS officers have fired shots during arrests or protests at least 16 times since July.
While zero officers have been charged for shootings, there have been several incidents in which the victim of the shooting faced charges; in Good’s and Pretti’s cases, the federal government is probing the slain Minnesotans while sidelining or obstructing investigations into their killers.
DHS, and Border Patrol before it, has a long history of violence, and the agency has drastically escalated its violence in its detention centers and in communities across the U.S. under Trump’s second term.
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