Fronteras

The FBI is investigating a Border Patrol-related shooting that occurred Tuesday in south central Arizona. 

The U.S. Border Patrol said its agents were tracking a group of suspected marijuana smugglers near Cowlic, on the Tohono O’odham Indian reservation. The agents were assaulted with rocks and an agent fired his weapon.

Nobody was hurt but two men were taken into custody, including the alleged assailant. The FBI and the Border Patrol’s own Office of Professional Responsibility are investigating the incident.

The agency has come under scrutiny for its use of force in recent years. Federal records show that this fiscal year, Border Patrol agents used their weapons five times not including Tuesday’s shooting. They were assaulted nearly 180 times.

Of these now six weapon incidences, three have occurred in the agency’s Tucson Sector.