BLAINE, Wash. — A person was shot by a Border Patrol agent near the Canadian border in Blaine early Tuesday morning.
The individual was transported to the hospital following the incident, which occurred around 5:30 a.m. The Federal Bureau of Investigation is currently investigating the shooting.
Authorities recovered a gun at the scene, but the FBI has not provided additional details about the shooting at this time. Local residents were startled by the early morning events.
One neighbor in Blaine said she heard gunshots.
“I sat straight up in bed because I heard gunshots, I wanna say three,” the neighbor said.
Another resident also reported hearing three gunshots, describing them as “the first one was just bang… then bang bang.”
A neighbor who posted a photo on social media told KIRO 7 that she was awake with her baby and heard voices yelling, including agents shouting “GUN, GUN.”
This neighbor reported that the person was shot in the leg in her driveway.
Neighbors also shared accounts of the suspected sequence of events. They described hearing that someone came through the trees, panicked upon seeing the Border Patrol and started to run, leading to an altercation.
Law enforcement quickly responded to the area, with neighbors observing a significant presence of officers. Local residents expressed surprise about the incident, especially given the constant surveillance in the border area.
One neighbor, who has lived in the area for 25 years, noted previous instances of people attempting to cross the border but stated nothing like this had happened before.
“I’ve always been nervous here because I’m so close to the border and we’ve seen other people trying to run the border but nothing like this ever happened and I’ve been here 25 years,” the neighbor said.
Another resident highlighted the known path into the trees. “There’s a little path that goes into the trees and the Border Patrol are well aware of it because they have a truck parked there watching it like all the time,” a neighbor said.
This resident also expressed surprise, adding, “I’m really kind of surprised that somebody would try to come through there.”
There is no information available regarding the current medical condition of the person who was shot.
The FBI stated it will release new information as it becomes available.
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