Borderland Beat
The shooting occurred along a major meth drug corridor, the agents were on horseback. Ironically, they worked out of the BP station named in honor of Brian Terry an agent killed in the line of duty...Due to the many comments sent in regarding the story of the Chula Vista woman shot and killed by a border patrol agent, I have added that story at the bottom. The article appeared in UTSD...Paz, Chivis
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Tuesday morning two U.S. Border Patrol agents were shot, one fatally injured, identified as Nicolas Ivie, age 30, in what is described as an ambush in an area in south Arizona known as a major meth and heroin drug-smuggling corridor.
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The shooting occurred along a major meth drug corridor, the agents were on horseback. Ironically, they worked out of the BP station named in honor of Brian Terry an agent killed in the line of duty...Due to the many comments sent in regarding the story of the Chula Vista woman shot and killed by a border patrol agent, I have added that story at the bottom. The article appeared in UTSD...Paz, Chivis
Fallen Agent Nicolas Ivie
Tuesday morning two U.S. Border Patrol agents were shot, one fatally injured, identified as Nicolas Ivie, age 30, in what is described as an ambush in an area in south Arizona known as a major meth and heroin drug-smuggling corridor.The identity of the other injured agent has not been releasaed. The shooting occurred at the Brian Terry Station near Naco, Ariz., which is just south of Tucson. The station was named after an agent who was killed in the line of duty in December 2010. The area is considered a remote part of the state and sources tell Fox News that the shooting occurred at 1:50 a.m. local time and about 8 miles from the border.
"This shooting is a tragic reminder of the dangers the brave men and women who guard our borders face every day."
- Rep. Darrell Issa
The agents who were shot were on patrol with a third agent, who was not harmed, according to George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing about 17,000 border patrol agents. The agents were on horseback at the time of the shooting.
McCubbin said he had no further information regarding the shooting.
The shooting occurred after an alarm was triggered on one of the many sensors along the border and the three agents went to investigate, said Cochise County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carol Capas.
SUMMARY
- Two border agents shot in remote town in Arizona. One agent died, the other was airlifted to hospital
- There is a multi-agency search for the shooter
- The area is known to be a major drug corridor
- The nearby station is named after Brian Terry, a border agent who died in a 2010 shootout near the border
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| Two week ago the Border Patrol Station named in honor of fallen agent Brian Terry, the same station the agents attacked worked (DIVDS photo) |
The injured agent was airlifted to a hospital with nonlife-threatening injuries. The injured agent was shot in the ankle and buttocks, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The search for the killer is being led by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Cochise County Sheriff's Office. The area is currently flooded with agents on horseback and helicopters conducting a search for the suspects.
Smuggling activity typically increases at this time of night and year since the weather is starting to cool from triple-digit figures.
Rep. Darrell Issa , R-Calif., released a statement calling an investigation into the shooting and cautioned about drawing conclusions before "relevant facts are known."
"This shooting is a tragic reminder of the dangers the brave men and women who guard our borders face every day," Issa's statement read.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, called the fallen agent a fallen hero.
Two weeks ago, the station was named after Brian Terry, who died in a shootout in December 2010 not far from Tuesday's shooting. Terry was the last agent fatally shot while on duty.
Terry's family issued a statement, saying, "We hope that those responsible for this shooting are brought to justice swiftly. The fact that the agents involved in this shooting were assigned to the recently dedicated Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station in Naco, Ariz., gives us pause to reflect on the life lost and the continued task of keeping our nation safe."
In Terry's shooting, two guns found at the scene were bought by a member of a gun-smuggling ring that was being monitored in the Fast and Furious investigation. Critics have knocked U.S. federal authorities for allowing informants to walk away from Phoenix-area gun shops with weapons, rather than immediately arresting.
Sources: US Today and Fox
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Woman Killed by Undercover Border Patrol Agent as She Left Drug House
CHULA VISTA — A woman who was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent after hitting him with her car had moments earlier been in an apartment known for drug activity where the agents were trying to arrest a felon, according to new details released by Chula Vista police Tuesday.
Police said Valeria “Munique” Tachiquin Alvarado, 32, struck the agent Friday as she pulled the car away from the curb. A second agent reached into her Honda to remove the keys from the ignition, and she pulled forward and struck the first agent again, this time driving with him on the car’s hood.
The agent, fearing for his life, yelled “Stop!” and then pulled out his gun, firing several rounds to halt the car, officials said.
Alvarado, a married mother of five, was on probation for a 2011 drug-related conviction, police said.
The information from police provides the first detailed look at how the incident unfolded, and aimed to address the questions of family members and residents who doubted the Border Patrol’s initial account.
Several people in the area witnessed parts of the incident, though some of their accounts differed.
The Border Patrol declined to comment Tuesday, citing the ongoing investigation.
According to police, who are leading the investigation into the shooting, a group of plainclothes agents went to an apartment on Moss Street near Oaklawn Avenue shortly before 1 p.m. with an arrest warrant for a felon who had been previously deported and had a history of drug charges.
The unit was known to have prior complaints of drug activity, police Capt. Gary Wedge said.
Alvarado was one of several people inside the apartment when four of the agents approached and identified themselves as law enforcement, Wedge said.
She replied that the man they wanted was in the shower in back, then she brushed past the agents and walked toward her car, Wedge said.
The agents alerted two other agents who were guarding the perimeter of the apartment, and they tried to stop her as she got into her Honda. She struck one of them with the car as she started to pull away, police said.
The agent, who wore a badge on his belt, told her she was under arrest for vehicular assault, while a second agent with a badge around his neck smashed the driver’s side window and tried to remove the keys, Wedge said.
Alvarado struck the first agent again, driving west on Moss with him on her hood, investigators said.
Witnesses told police that she was going about 25 mph, and at one point drove through oncoming traffic while attempting to pass another vehicle. Witnesses said the agent appeared scared and yelled “Stop.”
After driving about 200 yards, she made a turning maneuver near Oaklawn. It was at that time that a witness told police the agent drew his weapon and fired multiple rounds through the windshield, Wedge said.
When the car stopped in the middle of the street, the agents attempted first aid until medics arrived, but she died at the scene.
Alvarado was shot nine times, said San Diego attorney Eugene Iredale, who has been hired by the family.
The agent, whose name neither police nor the Border Patrol has made public, was taken to a hospital for unknown injuries and later released. Wedge said the agent has several years of law enforcement experience.
The wanted felon never was arrested, authorities said. His name has not been released.
Iredale said Tuesday that the new information has “raised more questions than answers.”
“Why were they blocking her way? She was not the subject of any warrant. There’s no evidence she committed any crime. She had the right to leave the area,” Iredale said.
The attorney also pointed to the accounts of at least three witnesses who said the agent was standing upright, walking forward toward Alvarado’s car as it went in reverse when the shots were fired.
“The key question is, where was the agent when he fired the fatal shot?” he asked.
The attorney said he plans to conduct an investigation and have witnesses interviewed before the family decides whether to file a lawsuit.
Alvarado’s family members did not return phone calls or emails Tuesday night, after the police released the new details. Police said they told her brother earlier in the day about their findings.
When her father spoke to reporters on Monday, he expressed concern that authorities were going to attack Alvarado’s character, and were “going to want to make my daughter look bad.”
“My daughter was a lovely person, a loving mother, a loving daughter, a good sister. That’s all I can say,” Valentin Tachiquin told reporters. He works as a corrections officer at a women’s prison in Corona.
Alvarado has at least two other criminal cases, from 2004 and 2000, according to court records. Details on those cases were not immediately available.
She lived in Southcrest, although some witnesses told U-T San Diego they saw her Honda often parked on the street at Moss and Oaklawn. Her family said the night of the shooting that they did not know why she was in the neighborhood.
Christian Ramirez, human rights director for Alliance San Diego, said his organization was pleased that the initial investigation has provided some insight into what happened but that many questions remain. The group helped the family organize a news conference Monday morning and a candlelight vigil that night in Chula Vista, which several hundred people attended.
As for Alvarado being in the apartment Friday, Ramirez said, “Our understanding is that she was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The FBI and federal Office of the Inspector General is monitoring the investigation. The case is also expected to be submitted to the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office for review.
