Jan 27 (Reuters) - A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and wounded a human-trafficking suspect who fired on a federal government helicopter in Arizona on Tuesday and later engaged in a shootout with the agent, officials said.
The suspect, a fugitive who had escaped from a halfway house related to a previous smuggling conviction,was in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery, the Pima County sheriff and FBI told a news conference.
The incident near the Mexican border occurred amid heightened tensions in the United States after immigration officers in Minnesota shot and killed two U.S. citizens in recent weeks as part of President Donald Trump's immigration-enforcement surge.
The shooting took place in rural desert near the town of Arivaca, about 10 miles (16 km) from the U.S.-Mexico border, a busy crossing area for migrants and also the site of past tensions between migrant advocates and the Border Patrol.
FBI Special Agent Heith Janke identified the suspect as Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34, saying he was expected to be charged with assault on a federal officer, alien smuggling and felon in possession of a firearm.
"Let me be clear, any assault on law enforcement officers will not be tolerated," Janke said. "The FBI will continue to vigorously investigate those who harm or threaten to do harm to those who wear the badge."
Schlegel was the subject of an arrest warrant for having fled a Tucson halfway house on December 15, 2024, according to federal court documents. In January 2024 he had been sentenced to three years for transportation of illegal aliens and firearms possession.
Border agents had pursued the vehicle Schlegel was driving earlier on Tuesday when several passengers got out and fled, and the driver got away, Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos told the news conference.
A Border Patrol agent later spotted the same vehicle near Arivaca, where the driver stopped and fled on foot, firing on an airborne Customs and Border Protection helicopter, Janke said.
The Border Patrol agent pursued the man on foot and shot the suspect during an exchange of gunfire, Nanos said.
The incident comes after the killing of 37-year-old Alex Pretti, an ICU nurse shot multiple times by Border Patrol agents on Saturday in Minnesota.
Coupled with the fatal shooting of Renee Good, 37, earlier this month by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, Pretti's shooting has become a major political headache for Trump.
Trump won the 2024 presidential election after promising a historic surge in illegal immigration deportations.
Masked immigration officers, often in tactical military-style gear, have become a common sight across the country and protests against the crackdown have erupted in several cities, including Minneapolis, where immigration agents have responded with deadly force.
Public support for Trump's immigration enforcement tactics appeared to be waning both before and after the Pretti shooting, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed. The issue has put Republicans on the defensive ahead of November's midterm elections, when the party's narrow congressional majorities are at stake.
(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Daphne Psaledakis in Washington, Erica Stapleton in Phoenix, Andrew Hay in New Mexico, and Daniel Trotta in Carlsbad, California; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Scott Malone, Matthew Lewis and Michael Perry)
