A Border Patrol agent was killed around 1 a.m. on Wednesday in an all-terrain vehicle crash while tracking suspected illegal migrants on the U.S.-Mexico border in Texas, according to U.S. Border Patrol Chief Raul Ortiz.
Sources told NewsNation reporter Ali Bradley the agent “hit a bollard gate ‘at full speed,’” she tweeted Wednesday morning. Fellow agents found him unresponsive and tried life-saving efforts, but he later died at an area hospital, according to Ortiz’s statement.
Federal sources said the agent was a 38-year-old father of two, according to Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin.
The crash happened near Mission, Texas in the southern tip of the state. The agent was assigned to the U.S. Border Patrol McAllen Station near Mission, according to Ortiz.
“The death of an agent who dies while securing our nation’s border is a tremendous loss for our organization and our nation,” Ortiz said. “Our prayers are with his family and co-workers during this difficult time.”
It’s the second death in a month for Border Patrol, which lost another agent in a shootout on a suspected smuggling vessel that injured two other agents on Nov. 17. The shootout occurred near the coast of Puerto Rico.
The next most recent Border Patrol agent killed this year died in October after being injured in an accident while training in Miami, Florida, according to the agency.
Prior to that, three other Border Patrol agents died this year: one from COVID-19, one from a roll-over accident while on patrol, and one after a medical emergency during training.
This was a breaking news story. The details were periodically updated as more information became available.
