A man wearing tactical gear ambushed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents as they were walking into work in McAllen, Texas, on Monday morning, according to the Department of Homeland Security.
The shooter, identified as Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, fired a rifle at agents, according to McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez.
He struck the front doors to the office and cracked the glass. Law enforcement agents returned fire and killed the gunman.
Rodriguez also told KRGV that Mosqueda was driving a vehicle with Michigan plates. More weapons were reportedly found inside his vehicle.
“This morning an individual opened fired at the entrance of the United States Border Patrol sector annex in McAllen, Texas. Both Border Patrol agents and local police helped neutralize the shooter,” the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement to Fox News. “This is an ongoing investigation led by the FBI. More information will be shared as it becomes available.”
No border agents were injured in the attack but a McAllen police officer who responded to the incident was shot. That officer is in a stable condition, according to Fox News.
Law enforcement officials said they believe the attack was an intentional, targeted ambush of Border Patrol agents.
The incident in McAllen comes days after another Texas police officer was shot near U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Prairieland Detention Facility.
An officer with the Alvarado Police Department was shot around 11pm Friday while responding to reports of a suspicious person near the facility, according to Fox Dallas.
When the officer tried making contact with the suspicious person, they were shot in the neck. The officer was flown to a hospital in Fort Worth and was later released.
Several armed suspects allegedly fled the scene but were arrested.
“We are closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX, and Portland, OR, and are coordinating with the [US Attorney offices] and our law enforcement partners,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said on X. “The Department [of Justice] has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.”
The attacks come amid increasingly brazen and public ICE raids across the country. Immigration raids in Los Angeles last month kicked off nationwide protests that saw demonstrators clashing with ICE and DHS agents.
Despite ICE’s insistence that its raids are primarily targeting criminals, little data is available to corroborate those claims.
