A shooter opened fire at a Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, on Monday morning, a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said.
Border Patrol agents and local police helped “neutralize” the shooter, according to the spokesperson. Border Patrol’s Rio Grande Valley Sector, which has six stations along the border, reported that the person is dead.
The shooter was identified as 27-year-old Ryan Louis Mosqueda, who had an assault rifle and was carrying a utility vest, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said Monday. Agents had returned fire and killed him, Rodriguez said.
Two officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured, with one of them shot in the knee, the DHS spokesperson said, adding that they went to the hospital.
Officials released an image of the front door of the building riddled with bullet holes.
“Yesterday’s heinous and unprovoked attack in McAllen could have been a bloodbath if not for the fearless actions of Border Patrol and McAllen law enforcement,” DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement Tuesday. “This vile assault on our officers is a disgusting escalation fueled by toxic rhetoric vilifying those who protect our borders. This must end now, and those stoking this violence will face consequences
The incident took place at the entrance of the U.S. Border Patrol sector annex in McAllen, a city in southern Texas that borders Mexico, according to the DHS spokesperson. Mosqueda fired dozens of rounds toward the building and agents inside, Rodriguez said.
Officials said Mosqueda had no known criminal record. He had a known address in Michigan and arrived in Texas with a Michigan tagged vehicle. He was reported missing from a Weslaco, Texas, address at 4 a.m. Monday morning, and the shooting took place a little after 6 a.m. local time.
It follows a shooting outside of an immigration detention center in Alvarado on Friday.
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