A U.S. Border Patrol agent based in South Texas has been charged with three felonies for allegedly attempting to kill his girlfriend during a domestic dispute Sunday, according to the Edinburg Police Department.
A local law enforcement official said Border Patrol Agent Ricardo Cepeda, Jr. was taken into custody around 3 a.m. Sunday after he tried to fatally shoot his girlfriend, while several children were nearby. The off-duty agent then fled the scene and was taken into custody about 15 miles away in Weslaco, Texas.
Edinburg police spokesman Lt. Oscar Trevino told the Washington Examiner Cepeda has been charged with one account of attempted murder and two counts of endangering a child.
Trevino said he did not believe Cepeda used his government-issued gun in the shooting.
Cepeda awaits arraignment and is being held at Hidalgo County Jail.
Neighbors at the scene in Edinburg told the McAllen Monitor they were woken Saturday night at the sound of multiple gunshots. One person said the girlfriend’s SUV window had been shot out and she had been shot eight times.
Another witness said the suspect was seen driving away in a Nissan Altima afterward and that he had two guns on him when he fled.
“He took off and she came strolling down, so I ran up to her car,” the man said. “I was just asking her if she was alright. ‘Are you OK? Did you hear anything?’ She was answering slowly. I asked her, ‘Do you know who it was?’ And she said, ‘Yeah, I was shot.’”
One neighbor, Ismael Rodriguez, said he heard the woman, in her 30s, was shot in the neck and head.
The Edinburg residence is said to be believed by neighbors to be the woman’s home. A 14-month-old baby to the agent and woman was found unharmed inside the house, as well as two children who were from a previous relationship.
“I talked to the[victim’s] sister this morning and she said that [the suspect] shot her twice in the back, one in the neck, and then he went and shot her while she was climbing into [her] vehicle,” Rodriguez said.
Police originally got a call about a possible burglary in nearby Mission, Texas, but did not find anything when they arrived on scene. Minutes later, they got a call about gunshots nine miles away in Edinburg, where the woman’s house is located.
Border Patrol’s parent agency, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, did not respond to a request for comment.
