Border Patrol Agent Shot to Death

A Border Patrol agent was shot to death while trying to arrest five suspected marijuana smugglers, who escaped from the agent’s partner. FBI agents scoured the rugged hills northwest of Nogales, about two miles north of the border. Alexander Kirpnick, 27, was shot in the head after he and his partner had stopped the suspects and Kirpnick had ordered two to sit. His partner, who was not identified, heard a shot and found Kirpnick on the ground, said Border Patrol spokesman Rob Daniels in Tucson. Bundles of marijuana were recovered at the scene, Daniels said. The two agents had waited for the suspected smugglers, who were carrying backpacks, for about an hour after a ground sensor detected an illegal border entry. Nogales is 60 miles south of Tucson.