Three US Border agents were shot Thursday, one fatally, during a confrontation with drug smugglers off the coast of Puerto Rico, authorities said.
At around 8 a.m., gunfire erupted when the two suspects on a vessel began shooting at approaching agents from the US Customs & Border Protection’s Air & Marine Operations.
One of the smugglers was shot dead while the other was taken into custody, the CBP said. The injured officers were airlifted to the Puerto Rico Trauma Center in unknown condition.
“These are brave members of our air and marine operations within U.S. Customs and Border Protection, so the difficulty of this job cannot be compared to the difficulty that our frontline personnel faces every day,” said US Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of the victims.
“And their bravery and selfless service should be recognized.”
