One person was shot and in critical condition Tuesday in a shooting involving the Border Patrol near the U.S.- Mexico border, authorities in Arizona said.
The Pima County Sheriff’s Department said the FBI had asked it to “lead the use-of-force investigation involving the agent.” It noted that such investigations are standard when a federal agency is involved in a shooting in the county.
“We ask the community to remain patient and understanding as this investigation moves forward,” the department said in a statement.
In response to an Associated Press request for details of the shooting, the FBI said it was “investigating an alleged assault on a federal officer” near Arivaca, Arizona, a community about 10 miles from the border.
An FBI spokesperson did not immediately respond to an email and telephone call asking about how the alleged assault was related to the shooting but said the agency would participate in a planned 4 p.m. MT press conference with the sheriff’s department on the shooting.
The Santa Rita Fire District said it responded to the shooting and the person who was wounded was in custody.
“Patient care was transferred to a local medical helicopter for rapid transport to a regional trauma center,” the fire district said.
One level-one trauma center hospital in Tucson declined to release information, and the AP was waiting on a response from another.
The area is a common path for drug smugglers and migrants who illegally cross the border, so agents regularly patrol there.
Authorities released no information about the suspect. The shooting comes in a month that has seen three shootings -- two fatal -- by immigration officers involved in the massive Department of Homeland Security enforcement operation in Minnesota.
While there were numerous videos of those shootings taken by residents monitoring the enforcement operations in the Minneapolis area, the latest shooting in Arizona happened in a community of about 500 people apparently without any bystander video of the incident.
The sheriff department said its involvement in the investigation was the result of “long standing relationships” built over time in the border area to promote transparency.
Sheriff Chris Nanos, a Democrat, has previously said his agency will not enforce federal immigration law amid President Donald Trump’s crackdown and that he will use his limited resources to focus on local crime and other public safety issues.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection did not immediately respond to emails and telephone calls seeking more information.
Border Patrol agents fired weapons in eight incidents during the 12-month period through September 2025, 14 times during the year before that and 13 times the year before that.
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