SAN DIEGO (AP) — A Coast Guardsman fired several gunshots from an inflatable boat before it was slammed by another vessel in a crash that caused the first law enforcement fatality since the smuggling of drugs and immigrants by boat began spiking along the California coast several years ago.

A criminal complaint filed Monday against two Mexican nationals aboard the suspect vessel disclosed the gunshots and other measures taken by the crew to avoid getting hit early Sunday near the Channel Islands, about 180 miles northwest of the U.S.-Mexico border.