Border Patrol agent shot and killed Tuesday night during gunbattle with suspected bandits
A Border Patrol agent was shot and killed Tuesday night during a gunbattle with suspected bandits.
Four people, including one who suffered gunshot wounds, were taken into custody. Authorities were searching for a fifth suspect Wednesday, said Rick Barlow, deputy chief in the Border Patrol’s Tucson Sector.
Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed when he and fellow agents exchanged fire with a group of five people about 11 p.m. Tuesday in a remote area west of Rio Rico, said FBI spokeswoman Brenda Nath.
Bandits were responsible for the killing, said agent Brandon Judd, president of the agents’ union in Arizona, Local 2544. Bandits are criminals who try to rip off loads of drugs and people from smugglers.
Terry and his fellow agents were members of the agency’s SWAT team, known as Bortac. They were in the area where the shooting occurred because of the high levels of illegal activity involving armed bandits, Judd said.
“It wasn’t a surprise encounter,” Judd said. “They knew what they were going into.”
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As a child, [Terry] was very accident prone, earning the nickname “Stitches.”
“Every time we turned around, Brian was getting stitches,” she said.
But he became a big, muscular, athletic man who stood 6-foot-4 and sometimes worked out two to three times a day. His athleticism and skills earned him a spot in the Border Patrol’s SWAT team.
“He was, by all accounts, an absolutely outstanding agent,” Judd said. “He was everything you would want on this team.”
Terry was well-liked by colleagues, said Judd, who worked with him in the Border Patrol in Naco. His sister echoed that, saying he had friends everywhere. They are expecting at least 1,000 people at his funeral in Michigan, she said.
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Agent Brian A. Terry, 40, was killed as he and fellow agents exchanged gunfire with suspected bandits in a remote area west of Rio Rico, the FBI said. COURTESY OF MICHELLE TERRY-BALOGH
The Christian Science Monitor’s report seems confused about the bandits.