U.S. Border Patrol agent killed Mexican border

Border agent killed in unusual violence within US
By GILLIAN FLACCUS, Associated Press Writer Gillian Flaccus, Associated Press Writer
48 mins ago

CHULA VISTA, Calif. – Federal investigators scrambled Friday to find whoever shot a U.S. Border Patrol agent in the head in an unusually violent attack within the U.S. that has left a baffling trail of evidence.

Agent Robert Rosas, a 30-year-old, married father of two young children, was killed shortly after 9 p.m. Thursday while responding alone to a suspected border incursion near Campo, a town in rugged, arid terrain in southeastern San Diego County.

He was shot in the head and multiple times in his body and was dead when backup agents arrived, said Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego bureau.

Rosas was found outside his patrol vehicle near the border fence, with blood evidence indicating at least one suspect and possibly more had serious injuries, perhaps by gunfire.

Investigators don't yet know how many shots were fired, if Rosas fired any shots himself and how many guns were used.

"It's all possible. I can't definitively say X number of people fired or Agent Rosas got off shots or didn't. I mean, it's too early in the investigation to say that with any certainty," Slotter said.

Federal officials have expressed growing concerns that the drug cartel battles plaguing Mexico could spill into the United States with the targeting of U.S. law enforcement officials.

Slotter said there was no indication that Rosas had been specifically targeted or that he had been trying to seize drugs from the suspects when he was killed.

However, he said investigators aren't ruling out the possibility that Rosas was slain by drug smugglers or even human smugglers.

"My thoughts and condolences are with Agent Rosas' family and his fellow agents at this difficult time," said Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement.

"His death is a vivid reminder that we are engaged in a serious effort to secure our border and that thousands of Border Patrol agents and other DHS employees risk their lives every single day to protect and defend our nation."

The FBI is offering a $100,000 reward for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of a suspect or suspects.