SUMAS, Wash. — (from: The Bellingham Herald)
U.S. Border Patrol agents arrested one man Tuesday and were searching for another in a remote area along the U.S.-Canadian border in northwest Washington, after the agents encountered the camouflaged pair and one shot at them, officials said.
Michael Milne, a spokesman with U.S. Customs and Border Protection, said the agents were on patrol Tuesday morning when they encountered the pair in the Columbia Valley, a forested area east of Sumas well-known as a drug-smuggling corridor. They were wearing camouflage and carrying backpacks, he said.
“One of the subjects fired at the agents and fled into the woods,” Milne said. “The other individual was apprehended.”
No injuries were reported.
Whatcom County Undersheriff Jeff Parks said deputies were called to help.
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Police Constable Ian MacDonald said the incident happened on the U.S. side, and that Canadian police were told the second suspect might have made his way into Canada.
Agents set up road blocks and a helicopter scoured the area.
Sumas is 95 miles north of Seattle on Highway 9. It is 22 miles east of the main border crossing on Interstate 5 at Blaine.
Police in Abbotsford, British Columbia, say a man suspected of shooting at U.S. Border Patrol agents Tuesday near Sumas was arrested at 4:30 a.m. Wednesday across the border at a residence in Abbotsford.
Police say in a statement he is a B.C. resident known to police.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman Michael Milne said agents on patrol Tuesday encountered two men in camouflage and wearing backpacks in the Columbia Valley, a forested area known as a drug-smuggling corridor. One of the men fired at the agents and fled. He was the subject of a search by multiple agencies on both sides of the border until his arrest.
The other man was arrested Tuesday and is making his first court appearance at 1:30 p.m. Wednesday in federal court in Seattle.
