Update Monday 9:30 pm:
Two female suspects are in custody and one man is in a hospital after multiple robberies in southeastern New Mexico and multiple shootouts with law enforcement in a remote part of rural Hudspeth County on Sunday.
The male suspect was injured after firing multiple shots at authorities with Texas Parks and Wildlife and Texas DPS. Those agents returned fire, striking the man several times.
Shots were also fired at a Border Patrol agent earlier in the day, but no other injuries were reported.
Hudpseth County Sheriff Arvin West tells KRTS the three people - believed to be New Mexico residents - had taken part in a "robbing binge" in New Mexico, having burglarized a Bealls department store and participated in multiple carjackings before fleeing to West Texas and attempting to cross the Rio Grande into Mexico.
The identities of the suspects haven't yet been released, but West estimates they were in their 20s. West says the situation was over by about 6 p.m. Sunday evening.
The suspects had stolen a hunter's pickup truck in New Mexico before attempting to flee the country in southern Hudspeth County, and were stopped near Sierra Blanca by a Border Patrol agent with the Sierra Blanca Station.
At some point during the initial stop, shots were fired at the agent and the suspects fled south in the vehicle, which they abandoned near Eagle Mountain in a remote part of the county, south of Sierra Blanca.
West says after abandoning the vehicle on foot, the male suspect was confronted by Texas Parks and Wildlife and DPS authorities around 9 a.m.
"When they spotted him, they told him to put his hands up and he fired several shots," West says.
The agents then returned fire, striking the man several times. He was then transported to a hospital.
"Last I heard it looked like he was going to live," West says.
The two female suspects were apprehended later in the day.
The suspects could face federal and/or state charges for assaulting a federal agent along with state authorities.
West says it was a long ordeal, but he's glad law enforcement officers were unharmed during the encounters, and that the situation ended early in the evening.
"We made it home to watch the Cowboys game," West says.
The F.B.I. has taken over the investigation, and as of Monday evening had not released further details on the case.
Original Post:
An agent with the Border Patrol's Sierra Blanca Station was shot at Sunday morning while attempting to make a traffic stop near Sierra Blanca in Hudspeth County.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) says the shooting happened at 7:30 Sunday morning on Highway 1111 near Eagle Mountain.
A person in the vehicle being stopped fired at the agent - the agent returned fire but no injuries were reported. CBP says three or four people in the vehicle escaped on foot into the nearby brush.
As of Sunday afternoon, Border Patrol was searching for those people with the help of Texas DPS, Texas Parks and Wildlife and the Hudspeth County Sheriff's Office.
