Overview
- Authorities identified the wounded suspect as 34-year-old Patrick Gary Schlegel, who is in federal custody after surgery and is expected to face assault-on-a-federal-officer, human-smuggling and firearms charges.
- Law enforcement sources say agents tried to stop a pickup around 7:20–7:30 a.m. near milepost 15 on West Arivaca Road, the driver fled on foot and allegedly fired at a CBP helicopter and agents before agents returned fire.
- Santa Rita Fire District and American Medical Response crews treated Schlegel at the scene and he was airlifted to a regional trauma center, initially listed in critical condition and later reported stable post-surgery.
- The FBI is leading a criminal inquiry described as an alleged assault on a federal officer, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department is leading the use-of-force investigation at the FBI’s request, and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility opened an internal review.
- Officials have released limited operational details, no agent injuries have been reported, and the investigation remains active near the border community of Arivaca in Pima County.