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Detainee fatally shot by federal agent at El Paso Border Patrol station, officials say

The FBI, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and local police were investigating.
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A detainee at a U.S. Border Patrol station in El Paso, Texas, was fatally shot by one or more federal agents Tuesday, authorities said.

The FBI said in a statement that the person died after the incident at the Ysleta U.S. Border Patrol Station.

A person died after being been transported to a local hospital after a shooting at an El Paso Border Patrol station Tuesday.
A person died after being been transported to a local hospital after a shooting at an El Paso Border Patrol station Tuesday.KTSM

U.S. Customs and Border Protection said in a statement that multiple agents assigned to the station were "involved" in a shooting reported at 12:45 p.m. Tuesday.

The detainee was transported to a hospital with severe injuries, El Paso Fire Department spokesperson Enrique Dueñas-Aguilar said. The detainee was later pronounced dead, according to the FBI.

Jeffrey R. Downey, the special agent in charge of the FBI's El Paso office, said the agency was informed of the shooting at 1 p.m. Tuesday and sent its Violent Crime Task Force and Evidence Response Team.

He described the incident as an "agent involved shooting" that also involved a person detained at the Border Patrol station.

Downey said during the incident one person was taken into custody and transported to a local hospital for medical treatment and that the FBI could confirm the person had died from his injuries. 

The shooting was being investigated by the FBI, Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Professional Responsibility and the El Paso Police Department, Downey said.

The Mexican Consulate in El Paso said in a statement Tuesday that the man was a Mexican national who was injured in the shooting while being processed at the station upon finding criminal charges against him. The consulate added it was in communication with U.S. federal authorities investigating the incident.

The detainee's name and reason for detention were not immediately released.

The incident comes days after two brothers, including a former jail warden at a detention center for undocumented immigrants, were arrested for shooting two migrants, one fatally, about 90 miles southeast of El Paso. The migrants had stopped for water at a West Texas reservoir when they were shot, according to court documents. Mark Sheppard and Michael Sheppard, both 60, were arrested in the Sept. 27 shooting and charged with manslaughter.