Border Patrol Agent Killed, Manhunt Underway

A shooting near Naco, Arizona Tuesday left one border patrol agent dead and another wounded, and now a manhunt for those responsible is underway.

CNN reports that Nicholas Ivie, 30, and another officer responded to a sensor reading near the border prior to the shooting. The name of the wounded officer has not been disclosed, and very little information about the incident has been released. The wounded Border Patrol agent’s injuries are not considered life threatening.

James Turgal of the FBI declined to tell CNN whether or not the border patrol agents returned fire or whether any weapons were recovered at the scene. Turgal also would not comment as to whether or not the shooting could be related to the “Fast and Furious” gun-smuggling sting operation. The FBI and the Cochise County Sheriff’s Office are investigating the incident together.

The Washington Post reported that Ivie’s family received a phone call from President Barack Obama expressing his condolences and thanking them for his “selfless service to his nation.”

Ivie, the youngest of five siblings, was married with two daughters and lived in Sierra Vista, Arizona. The deceased was stationed at the Naco Border Patrol Station, which was recently renamed after Brian Terry, a Border Patrol killed in the line of duty in December 2010. Terry’s death led to the disclosure of the botched “Fast and Furious” sting.

According to the Post, the shooting took place about seven miles east of Bisbee.

Ivie was the 14th border patrol agent killed since 2008 and the third killed this year.