AGENT DRAWS FIRE IN BORDER CHASE

A U.S. Border Patrol agent pursuing a suspected drug smuggler was shot at
more than 20 times and returned fire early Tuesday morning about 10 miles
east of Naco.

No one was injured in the exchange on Border Road and no one was arrested.

The incident began at about 6 a.m. when a gray Chevrolet Suburban crossed
the border in a remote area east of Naco, according to an FBI spokesman.

A Border Patrol unit with its strobe lights flashing followed the truck,
but the truck did not stop, said FBI spokesman Ed Hall, who added that the
FBI is investigating the incident as an assault on an officer.

He said the Border Patrol put tire spikes across the road, but the truck
drove through the barrier. It then turned around and headed back to the border.

As the truck sped south, Hall said someone "started shooting at the Border
Patrol agents. One agent returned fire on the vehicle. The vehicle finally
stopped short of the border . . . and the driver ran into Mexico."

Hall said the truck contained a load of drugs, although he did not say what
type. A weapon was also found in the truck, he said.

George Lopez, an assistant chief with the U.S. Border Patrol's Tucson
sector, said the agent involved and others who witnessed the shooting have
been questioned by the FBI.

Border Patrol spokesman Ryan Scudder said he does not know the status of
the agents involved.

Border Patrol policy mandates at least three days of administrative leave
for agents involved in stressful or traumatic situations, such as when they
fire their guns, he said.