Man in hospital after shooting by border agent in Arizona

A shooting involving a border patrol agent near the US-Mexico border in Arizona has left an accused smuggler in critical condition, local authorities said Tuesday.

Border patrol agents attempted to stop a car at about 7am, Pima county sheriff Chris Nanos said at a press conference. Several people exited the car and ran off, and the vehicle drove away, Nanos said. About half an hour later, agents relocated the car and attempted to stop it again. The driver fled on foot, and a border agent chased after him.

As the suspect fled, he fired shots at an occupied helicopter, according to Heith Janke, FBI Phoenix special agent in charge. The agent, whose name has not been disclosed, gave chase and fired at the suspect, whom Janke identified as Patrick Gary Schlegel, 34.

The Santa Rita fire district responded to the shooting and transported Schlegel to a regional trauma center, the district said in a statement. Nanos described his condition as “serious but stable”.

The agent was not shot.

Schlegel was convicted in federal court of smuggling unauthorized migrants and possessing firearms as a felon in 2023, according to court records. He was sentenced to three years in prison, but was sent to an institutional facility called Dismas Charities to serve a portion of that time. He escaped in 2024, according to court records.

Schlegel is currently being held on a warrant issued for his arrest last year by the US Marshals Service, Janke said. He will likely be charged in federal court with the crimes of assault on a federal officer, alien smuggling, and felon in possession of a firearm.

“Let me be clear, any assault on federal officers will not be tolerated,” Janke said.

The shooting at the border comes amid a national uproar over a string of shootings and other allegations of excessive force by federal immigration agents carrying out Donald Trump’s mass deportation agenda. Immigration officers have shot and killed two US citizens over the last month in Minnesota.

Neither the homeland security department nor Customs and Border Protection immediately responded to requests for comment.

Both the FBI and the Pima county sheriff’s office are investigating the shooting.