One person was shot and seriously injured on Tuesday amidst a clash with US Border Patrol officials in Arizona. Officials said the individual in question was a fugitive with a previous smuggling conviction who had escaped from a halfway house. The incident took place near the Mexican border — mere days after immigration officers in Minnesota shot and killed two US citizens.
Officials quoted by Reuters said a human trafficking suspect had fired at a federal government helicopter in Arizona and later engaged in a shootout with the agent. FBI Special Agent Heith Janke identified the suspect as 34-year-old Patrick Gary Schlegel and said the latter would be charged with assault on a federal officer, alien smuggling and felon in possession of a firearm.
“Let me be clear, any assault on law enforcement officers will not be tolerated. The FBI will continue to vigorously investigate those who harm or threaten to do harm to those who wear the badge,” Reuters quoted him as saying.
The shootout also came amid heightened tensions across the United States as immigration officials led a widespread crackdown against immigration. ICE and border patrol agents have shot nearly a dozen people in January 2026 alone — with at least two deaths reported from Minneapolis.
What do we know about Patrick Gary Schlegel?
The incident took place in the desert near the town of Arivaca. The Pima County sheriff and FBI told a news conference that Schlegel was in a serious but stable condition after undergoing surgery.
Federal court documents accessed by Reuters indicate that he was the subject of an arrest warrant — having fled a Tucson halfway house in December 2024. He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for transportation of illegal aliens and firearms possession in January 2024.
Elaborate chase and shootout with US agent
Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos explained during a news conference that border agents had pursued the vehicle Schlegel was driving earlier on Tuesday. Several passengers had gotten out and fled, and the driver got away. A Border Patrol agent later spotted the same vehicle near Arivaca, where the driver stopped and fled on foot, firing on an airborne Customs and Border Protection helicopter. Nanos said the Border Patrol agent pursued the man on foot and shot the suspect during an exchange of gunfire.