The Norman Transcript

Headlines

Discussion

October 4, 2012

Wounded border agent released from hospital

The Associated Press Associated Press

NACO, Ariz. — Investigators were scouring a rugged area near the U.S.-Mexico line looking for evidence in the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent.

Nicholas Ivie and a colleague were on patrol in the desert near Naco, Ariz., about 100 miles from Tucson, when gunfire broke out shortly before 2 a.m. Tuesday, according to the Border Patrol.

Ivie, 30, was killed. The other agent, whose name hasn’t been released, was released from the hospital after being shot in the ankle and buttocks.

It was the first fatal shooting of an agent since a deadly 2010 firefight with Mexican bandits that spawned congressional probes of a botched government gun-smuggling investigation.

No arrests have been made. Authorities suspect that more than one person fired at the agents.

No weapons have been found, according to a federal law enforcement official who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Agents and deputies were searching the area on ATVs, horseback and on foot with up to four helicopters overhead in the southern foothills of the Mule Mountains that’s considered a known smuggling area.

“It’s been a long day for us but it’s been longer for no one more than a wife whose husband is not coming home. It’s been longer for two children whose father is not coming home, and that is what is going to strengthen our resolve” to find those responsible and enforce the law, said Jeffrey Self, commander of Customs and Border Protection’s Arizona joint field command.

Ivie lived in Sierra Vista with his wife and their two young daughters.

President Barack Obama called Ivie’s family Tuesday to offer condolences and to express his gratitude for Ivie’s “selfless service to his nation,” a White House statement said. Obama made it clear that the administration “was doing everything it could to locate those responsible.”

For local news and more, subscribe to The Norman Transcript Smart Edition, or our print edition.

Text Only | Photo Reprints
Headlines
  • Moore Tornado Deadly tornado nearly follows path of ’99 storm

    MOORE — A massive F4 tornado with winds estimated at 200 mph spun through this city Monday afternoon, killing approximately 91 persons and taking a path eerily close to the May 3, 1999, storm that killed 43....

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

  • dsc_1683.jpg Moore patients, employees accounted for

    MOORE — Patients and staff inside the seriously damaged Moore Medical Center were all accounted for, hospital officials said late Monday....

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

  • ‘This is it. This is my life’

    MOORE —In the aftermath of a violent tornado ripping through Moore, residents are shocked, dazed and resolute....

    May 21, 2013

  • warren.jpg Theater guests, staff take cover then help others

    MOORE — Before even hearing the massive tornado that ripped through the walls, obliterated the windows and chewed through the Warren Theater in Moore where he works as a team member, Young said he could feel it.

    May 21, 2013 1 Photo

  • Tornado rekindles nightmare storm of 1999

    MOORE — For some residents of Moore, Monday’s events were a reminder of the May 3, 1999, tornado that caused devastation in the same area. Judy Odem, who’s lived in Moore for 40 years, said she learned after the 1999 tornado that she ...

    May 21, 2013

  • Thousands jam roadways trying to get home

    MOORE —People were running and walking, riding bicycles and careening through ditches on ATVs trying to get into neighborhoods in the Moore area Monday afternoon. History seemed to replay the events that once rocked this area when a ...

    May 21, 2013

  • Journey Church, OU open doors to storm victims

    Journey Church in Norman has opened its doors to shelter victims of the tornado that swept through Moore on Monday. They are also collecting donations for the victims....

    May 21, 2013

  • Tornado season starts late, but starts nonetheless

    TULSA — Deadly tornadoes that have raked communities in Middle America over the past week, including Monday’s massive twister that carved a path of destruction through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, belie what had been a relatively ...

    May 21, 2013

  • ME identifies Sunday victims

    One of the injured storm victims taken to Norman Regional Hospital on Sunday evening has died, raising the death toll from Sunday’s storm to two....

    May 21, 2013

  • House panel approves $40M for museum

    OKLAHOMA CITY — A plan to divert $40 million in use taxes over three years to help complete construction of an American Indian Cultural Center and Museum along the banks of the Oklahoma River has cleared a House committee....

    May 21, 2013