Border Patrol Agent Deadly Wounded in Southern Arizona

New victims among the law enforcement officials in the United States. A border patrol agent lost his life during a shootout between a patrol and a group of bandits, near the US-Mexican border. Besides the dead American agent, one of the suspects was wounded as well. According to the National Border Patrol Council President, T.J. Bonner, the violence reupted on Tuesday night, after agents spotted a group of suspects well known for smuggling illegal immigrants in the United States.

Brian A. Terry, aged 40, was a member of an elite squad similar to the police SWAT teams. He and three of his colleagues were waiting for the bandits in a remote area just north of the border city of Nogales, an area well known for border banditry, drug smuggling and violence and one of the most frequently used corridors for illegal immigrants entering the United States. Terryʼs unit came across a group of five suspects, armed with rifles, when the gunfire started. Terry was killed, while none of his colleagues were injured.

Investigators refused to give any details about the country of origin of the suspects, but mentioned that four of them had already been caught. And law enforcement agents are looking for a fifth one. The death of the patrol agents occured after month of political debate on the immigration issue in Arizona, with stateʼs officials passing a law that tightened up rules against illegal immigrants. And incidents like the Border Patrol shooting was seen as another argument for state and federal authorities to better secure the border. And the Homeland Security Secretary, Janet Napolitano, already planned a visit in Arizona on Thursday and Friday to meet with Border Patrol agents in Nogales and Tucson.

Brian A. Terry was born in the  Detroit area, and previously served in the Marines and as a police officer in the Michigan cities of Ecorse and Lincoln Park. He started working for the Border Patrol in 2007. He wasn’t married and didn’t have any children. Law enforcement officials are searching for the suspect in a section of the Arizona desert some 10 miles north of Mexico. They are using both horses and all-terrain vehicles to search the rough terrain, while police cars are patroling the perimeter.