AZMEX UPDATE 5 OCT 2012
Note: Not the kind of news we want to hear, but cannot be
discounted. More fallout from "relaxed" standards since 9-11?
Way too early to know. Also, we still have not been able to get
confirmation from Mexican govt. sources on possible arrests linked to
incident.
Union boss: Friendly fire possibility in shooting
Fri, 10/05/2012 - 7:16pm
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
http://www.svherald.com/associatedpress/332781
PHOENIX (AP) — The shooting of two U.S. Border Patrol agents near the
Arizona-Mexico border may have been a case of friendly fire, a union
chief for border agents and law enforcement officials said Friday.
The development could shake up the investigation into the death of
one of the agents that re-ignited the political debate over security
on the border.
George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a
union representing about 17,000 border agents, said Friday that he
has learned new details that make him believe friendly fire could
have played a part in the shooting.
"The only thing I can say is that the possibility of friendly fire is
a higher likely scenario," McCubbin said, declining to elaborate on
the new details.
Two law enforcement officials also told The Associated Press that the
FBI is investigating the possibility that the fatal shooting of 30-
year-old Agent Nicholas Ivie and the wounding of another agent early
Tuesday morning five miles from the border was a case of friendly fire.
The probe is examining whether the two agents exchanged gunfire
Tuesday in the mistaken belief that each was being fired on by a
hostile gunman.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the matter is
under investigation.
FBI officials in Washington and Phoenix declined to comment.
The shooting occurred in a rugged hilly area about five miles north
of the border near Bisbee, Ariz., as the agents responded to an alarm
that was triggered on one of the sensors that the government has
installed along the border. The wounded agent has been released from
the hospital, while the third agent was uninjured.
Ivie's death marked the first fatal shooting of an agent since a
deadly 2010 firefight with Mexican bandits that killed U.S. Border
Patrol Agent Brian Terry in December 2010 and spawned congressional
probes of a botched government gun-smuggling investigation.
Terry's shooting was later linked to that "Fast and Furious"
operation, which allowed people suspected of illegally buying guns
for others to walk away from gun shops with weapons, rather than be
arrested.
Authorities intended to track the guns into Mexico. Two rifles found
at the scene of Terry's shooting were bought by a member of the gun-
smuggling ring being investigated. Critics of the operation say any
shooting along the border now will raise the specter that those
illegal weapons are still being used.
Twenty-six Border Patrol agents have died in the line of duty since
2002.
___
Official: Friendly fire not ruled out in border agent's death
Posted: Oct 03, 2012 3:57 PM MST
Updated: Oct 04, 2012 5:52 PM MST
Posted by Breann Bierman - email
http://www.kpho.com/story/19729762/official-friendly-fire-not-ruled-
out-in-border-agents-death
NACO, MEXICO (CBS5) -
A law enforcement official tells CBS 5 News that investigators are
looking into the possibility of friendly fire in Arizona Border Agent
Nick Ivie's death.
No further information was immediately available.
CBS 5 News has also independently confirmed two suspects have been
detained in Mexico in connection with his shooting death.
A highly placed source verified the pair were detained in Naco, Mexico.
Earlier, a Reuters' report said the suspects were detained in a
Mexican military operation in the city of Agua Prieta, in Mexico's
northern Sonora state, a few miles from the spot where Nicholas Ivie,
30, was shot dead early on Tuesday.
Another agent who was wounded has been released from the hospital.
CBS 5 News received a written statement late Wednesday afternoon from
the Consulate of Mexico in Douglas, AZ. It said:
"The government of Mexico has been in constant communication with its
U.S. counterparts since it received notification of the incident
where a Border Patrol agent sadly lost his life, and offered and has
been providing all its support in the investigations that are being
carried out. Given that there is an ongoing investigation, we have no
additional comment at this time." -Socorro Córdova, State Press
Attaché, Mexican Consular Network in Arizona
The Cochise County Sheriff's Office released a statement Thursday. It
said, "Still no confirmation of the arrests from Phoenix sector FBI,
handling the investigation along with CCSO, itself waiting for an FBI
confirmation."
Ivie's family held a news conference Thursday morning in Sierra Vista.
Kevin Goates, the family spokesman, said, "The Ivie family would like
to thank all of those who have expressed their support and
condolences as they deal with the loss of Nicholas, a father,
husband, brother and son. Nicholas served both his country and his
church with dedication and love and will be dearly missed by many."
Funeral arrangements for the fallen agent have been announced.
Visitation will be held Sunday, Oct. 7 from 6-8 p.m. at Hatfield
Funeral Home in Sierra Vista. Funeral services will be 10 a.m.
Monday, Oct. 8, at The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints,
2100 Yaqui St., Sierra Vista. Interment will follow at a later date
in the Spanish Fork City Cemetery, Spanish Fork, UT.
No comments:
Post a Comment