RAMMING AGENTS' VEHICLES PART OF A A 'PATTERN' PRIOR TO AND DURING
BORDER SHOOTING INCIDENT

DOUGLAS - An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said the
alleged drug smuggler shot by an officer on Thursday belongs to a
drug trafficking organization that has resorted to ramming law
enforcement vehicles a total of three times in four days in order to
escape apprehension in the Douglas area.

An ICE officer shot Ramon Davalos-Lopez, 41, on Thursday because he
was driving a stolen pickup truck in a manner that was endangering
the lives of law enforcement officials pursuing him, said Carol
Capas, spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Office.

Vincent Picard, public affairs officer for ICE, said a suspected
smuggler from the same organization rammed pursuing Border Patrol
units while fleeing back to Mexico on Monday, and a smuggler
intentionally rammed a Douglas police officer's truck to evade
authorities on Wednesday.

"There is definitely a pattern," he said during a phone interview Friday.

Thursday's incident started when Davalos-Lopez began traveling at a
high rate of speed and erratically driving through residential
neighborhoods and school zones while fleeing agents of ICE, Border
Patrol and Douglas Police Department.

"After agents attempted to stop the vehicle with tire deflation
devices, the driver of the vehicle drove towards the patrol vehicles
and agents in a threatening manner before continuing northbound,"
Capas said in a press release on Friday.

"One of the ICE agents was able to position his vehicle in front of
the suspect while Border Patrol agents were behind it. After
determining the suspect was further endangering the law enforcement
agents, the ICE agent fired his service weapon striking the suspect
in the right arm," she continues.

Once the vehicle was stopped, Davalos-Lopez was treated for
non-life-threatening wounds and airlifted to a Tucson hospital for
treatment. He was arrested by ICE.

The incident ended near mile post 4 on Geronimo Trail east of
Douglas. The Sheriff's Office was advised of the incident at about
1:45 p.m. Thursday.

Mile post 4 is located in a rural area. Geronimo Trail is paved
eastbound until around mile post 2, at which point it becomes a gravel road.

The only items that remained at the scene Friday morning were some
yellow police tape, six surgical gloves, some gauze and four
1-gallon plastic bottles that were half filled with water.

Following the incident, authorities discovered more than 1,000
pounds of marijuana in the truck driven by Davalos-Lopez, Picard said.

The vehicle was recovered by the Sheriff's Office and will be kept
until the conclusion of the investigation, Capas said.