A United States Border patrol agent was shot in New Mexico Thursday by a suspect who officials believe could be linked to human smuggling, according to the New York Post.
The officer was shot in the chest while confronting the occupants of a vehicle potentially used for smuggling, but was luckily wearing body armor, and escaped from the ordeal mostly unscathed.
After the shooting, the unidentified officer returned fire as the suspect and the vehicle sped off on a northbound highway.
However, according to Albuquerque’s KOAT, the shooting suspect and the other occupants in the vehicle were eventually arrested when the car was involved in an accident shortly after.
KOAT reports:
“Six people were taken into custody after the vehicle later crashed, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection said. The agency added that the agent was shot in the chest multiple times and was released after a medical examination.
The officer, who was not identified, had returned fire as a vehicle sped away on a rural state highway north of Hatchita.
‘The fleeing vehicle was involved in a rolled over accident a few miles down the road and agents took six persons into custody,’ according to the statement.”
The incident, while falling short of a tragedy, is yet another disastrous headline for President Joe Biden and his administration on the issue of border security.
Following mounting pressure for action on the Southern border from members of both major parties, Biden announced his very first visit to the border as president this Sunday, also saying he will visit with Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador next week.
Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) tweeted out praise for the pending visit, writing, “If press reports are accurate, I’m pleased President Biden will finally visit our southern border – which has been completely surrendered to the cartels, smugglers, and human traffickers.”
If press reports are accurate, I’m pleased President Biden will finally visit our southern border – which has been completely surrendered to the cartels, smugglers, and human traffickers.https://t.co/Wc962kiJ2o
— Lindsey Graham (@LindseyGrahamSC) January 4, 2023
Under the watch of Biden and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, a record number of illegal migrants crossed the US-Mexico border in 2022.
Biden’s Department of Homeland Security also recently admitted it has lost records for over 350,000 border crossers it was supposedly tracking.
