Mexican authorities respond to reports of Border Patrol agents shot at in Starr County
Authorities in Mexico are speaking out after Border Patrol officials said their agents were fired at in Starr County.
The shooting was reported on Monday afternoon, and Border Patrol previously said the shots came from Mexico’s side of the border.
U.S. Border Patrol spokesperson Christina Smallwood said agents fired back, and the agency is working to confirm if the gunmen were aiming at the agents.
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“That is still under investigation, but we take every threat seriously,” Smallwood said. “Yesterday's incident is just proof of something that agents here in the Rio Grande Valley face. These are some of the dangers that they're confronted with when they began their shift.”
Channel 5 News reached out to the Tamaulipas state police on Tuesday. A spokesperson said they’re not calling the incident a shooting.
“I want to clarify, it was not a shootout. We're not calling it a shooting,” Tamaulipas state police spokesperson Jorge Cuellar said. “Border Patrol heard shots while patrolling and they thought it was from a cartel member.”
Cuellar would not elaborate on why they don’t believe the incident was a shooting.
Smallwood said more resources will be deployed to Border Patrol agents in Starr County.