Border Patrol Agents Shot at While Aiding 4-Year-Old Boy Dropped From US-Mexico Border Wall

Gunfire from south of the border rang out twice last week targeting agents from Customs and Border Protection located near San Ysidro, according to the CBP.

“We are taking these events very seriously and are working with law enforcement partners in the U.S. and Mexico to identify the source of the gunfire,” San Diego Sector Chief Patrol Agent Aaron M. Heitke said in a news release issued Friday.

The first incident took place last Saturday in the San Ysidro Mountains a little after 8:30 a.m. A supervisor called in air cover, saying he had been shot at by someone across the border to his southwest. Agents flying overhead saw several people in the area indicated by the supervisor, the CBP said in Friday's statement, including one person who appeared armed with a rifle.

Then, on Monday shortly after 9 p.m. and a half-mile east of the port of entry, someone shot at agents just north of the border who were aiding an injured 4-year-old boy who had been dropped over the fence and was being treated by members of San Diego Fire-Rescue, according to the CBP. Those agents reported hearing a hail of bullets slamming into the border fence. The group was forced to take cover, and a CBP helicopter flew overhead to provide protection as well. Agents from Mexican law enforcement were also called out to the scene.

"A bi-national investigation is underway to identify the suspects in both incidents and additional agents have been assigned to the area," the CBP's news release stated.

On Friday, San Diego County Supervisor Jim Desmond released a statement that said, in part, "The brazen attacks on our Border Patrol agents are a stark reminder of the dangerous conditions our brave law enforcement officers endure to carry out their duties to protect us."

Anybody with information about either incident is being urged to call the San Diego Sector Border Intelligence Center at (619) 216-4180.