A federal officer stationed at an Arizona border crossing shot a driver who refused to stop and allegedly tried to run down the officer on the way into Mexico, according to local reports.
Around 7 p.m. local time Thursday, an unnamed U.S. Customs and Border Protection officer working at the DeConcini Crossing in Nogales, Ariz., told a vehicle headed southbound to pull over, according to a CBP statement.
CBP said the ongoing investigation into the matter prevented the agency from sharing more information.
Nogales Mayor Arturo Garino told the Arizona Daily Star that a pickup truck raced into Mexico after being told to stop and attempted to run over the federal officer.
The CBP officer shot at least once at the driver, but the truck continued through the port and into Mexico before crashing on the other side. Mexican federal police pulled the driver out of the truck. A passenger was arrested and unharmed in the shooting.
CBP said the driver had a gunshot wound and was taken to a hospital in Mexico’s Sonora state. It wasn’t clear whether the man survived the shooting.
The port was shut down for four hours and traffic was redirected at a nearby Nogales crossing. Nogales police were redirecting traffic to the Mariposa Port of Entry before reopening the DeConcini port at around 11 p.m.
The border agency’s Office of Professional Responsibility and Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations are both investigating the officer’s use of force.
[Also read: Border agents seize bags of guns, ammo left on Texas ranch]
