TUCSON - FBI and Cochise County sheriff's authorities were investigating the fatal shooting by a Border Patrol agent of a Mexican national near the New Mexico border.
The incident occurred about 2:45 a.m. Wednesday after an agent followed a van from New Mexico into Arizona suspected of carrying illegal immigrants, authorities said Thursday.
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The unidentified agent found 17 illegal immigrant passengers inside, and the shooting occurred as the agent attempted to arrest the driver, said Susan Herskovits, an FBI spokeswoman in Phoenix.
The driver, identified as Edgar Villareal of Chihuahua, Mexico, was shot once and was pronounced dead at a nearby trauma center, she said.
Herskovits said it wasn't clear whether a weapon was found. Cochise County sheriff's spokeswoman Carol Capas said no weapon was recovered from the van as of Thursday afternoon.
Capas said her office was alerted to the shooting by Hidalgo County (N.M.) deputies.
It also was uncertain whether the agent remained on duty or was placed on leave.
The El Paso sector chief for the Border Patrol and spokesman Doug Mosier were not available immediately for comment, and another agent in the sector referred calls to the FBI.
The shooting was being investigated as an assault on a federal officer, Herskovits said.
The van's other occupants were interviewed by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers before being processed for deportation, Herskovits said.
