A human trafficking suspect with a long criminal record was shot and critically wounded by a Border Patrol agent Tuesday morning after fleeing a traffic stop and opening fire about 10 miles from the US-Mexico border in Arizona, authorities said.
Federal agents tried to stop a pickup suspected of human trafficking near Arivaca, about 60 miles south of Tucson, around 7:30 a.m., when the lone occupant failed to step and eventually fled on foot, firing shots at a manned CBP helicopter and officers, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.
During the pursuit, a border patrol agent shot and wounded the suspect, identified as 34-year-old Patrick Gary Schlegel, a US citizen from Sahuarita, Arizona, about 40 miles northeast of the shooting site.
An individual was left in critical condition following a shooting involving a Border Patrol agent in Arizona’s Pima County.
Schlegel was transported to the hospital and is in stable condition recovering from surgery, authorities said at a Tuesday evening press conference.
No border patrol agents were injured in the gunfire.
Schlegel has a “significant criminal history,” including an active federal warrant from 2025 for escaping custody after a previous alien smuggling conviction, according to FBI special agent Heath Yonke.
The suspected trafficker will be charged with assault on a federal officer, alien smuggling and felon in possession of a firearm, federal officials said.
“We have and will continue to conduct witness, victim and subject interviews, review and analyze surveillance footage, and recover and analyze evidence,” Yonke told reporters.
“Let me be clear, any assault on law enforcement officers will not be tolerated. The FBI will continue to vigorously investigate those who harm or threat to do harm. We would ask for the community’s patience in allowing the investigative and prosecutive process to continue.”
The FBI said it was “investigating an alleged assault on a federal officer.”
The use-of-force probe will be led by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department at the request of the feds, officials said.
The incident comes as immigration officials face increased scrutiny following two fatal shootings of American citizens in Minneapolis this month.
Anti-ICE protester and mother of three Renee Good, 37, was shot dead by an ICE agent after she accelerated her SUV at him during a heated confrontation on Jan. 7.
Armed ICU nurse Alex Pretti, 37, was shot nearly a dozen times after he was tackled to the ground and disarmed by Border Patrol during an immigration operation Saturday morning.
