SELLS, Arizona – A U.S. Border Patrol agent fatally shot a Guatemalan man in southern Arizona as the illegal border-crosser allegedly attacked an agent.
The shooting was the latest in a series this year that have raised tensions along the Mexico-U.S. border.
Julia Guzman, the consul general of Guatemala in Arizona, said the U.S. Department of Homeland Security sent her government a summary of the struggle, which began as border agents encountered a group of illegal immigrants.
Guzman said U.S. authorities reported that the 28-year-old became combative, got control of an agent's collapsible steel baton and attacked an agent and a police dog.
She said the man, whose identity hasn't been released, was shot once in the chest.
Authorities tried to resuscitate the man, but he was pronounced dead at the scene about 45 minutes later, Guzman said.
Other immigrants, including seven from Guatemala, were taken into custody, said Guzman, who interviewed the Guatemalans on Thursday and said none saw what led up to the shooting.
"We regret the loss of life, and we will fully cooperate with the investigation," Border Patrol supervisory agent Steven Passement said. He wouldn't release the agent's name and didn't have any immediate information on the agent's background.
FBI spokesman Manuel Johnson said his agency was investigating because the case involved an assault on a federal law enforcement agent. He would not release any information about the shooting.
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