Border Patrol Agent Shot by Suspected Smugglers in New Mexico

A U.S. Border Patrol agent patrols near the border wall in Sunland Park, New Mexico, U.S., as pictured from the Mexican side of the border in Ciudad Juarez February 12, 2021. Jose Luis Gonzalez/Reuters

A Border Patrol agent  in southern New Mexico was shot by suspected smugglers, who were inside a vehicle, on Thursday.

When a Border Patrol agent stopped a vehicle at 11:25 a.m. he was shot multiple times on his bulletproof vest. The agent returned fire and the vehicle fled north of Hachita, according to a press release from authorities, quoted by The Albuquerque Journal.