Border Patrol Agent Kills Knife-Wielding Man

A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and killed an unidentified Latino man early Thursday after the victim threatened the agent with a knife near the U.S.-Mexico border, San Diego police said.

The incident occurred at 9:45 a.m., police said, about a half-mile north of the border, near the intersection of Dairy Mart Road and Interstate 5.

The county medical examiner’s office said the dead man was Latino and about 20 years old. The area is heavily traveled by illegal migrants headed north. It was not known, however, if the dead man was a migrant.

It was the third shooting in 1990 by Border Patrol officers in San Diego, authorities said. The previous two shootings resulted in the death of one man and the wounding of two other persons.

During 1990, San Diego police officers have shot 23 suspects, killing nine and wounding 14, according to police statistics.

Thursday’s incident involved two Border Patrol agents who were patrolling an area known as the Old River Channel, according to San Diego police Lt. Dan Berglund, who released details of the shooting during a news conference at police headquarters. Police refused to provide the names of the Border Patrol agents involved in the shooting.

A man wearing dark blue work pants, a light blue work shirt and a gray sweater apparently saw the agents and began running from them, Berglund said. The agents followed the man into the brush.

One of the agents saw the man fall, Berglund said. When the agent approached, Berglund said, the man jumped up, brandishing a 5-inch knife. The agent stepped back and fired one shot which hit the man in the head.

San Diego police are investigating the shooting because it occurred within the city limits. Berglund said the FBI is also investigating because the shooting involved an assault on a federal officer.

Border Patrol authorities had no comment Thursday on the shooting. A decision will likely be made Friday as to whether the agent will remain on his normal duty or will be reassigned to other tasks, patrol spokesman Ted Swofford said.