Seven U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers got into a shootout with a U.S. citizen Monday night at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, killing the 23-year-old after he attempted to drive through the port without stopping and then opened fire on officers, authorities said.
It happened around 7:30 p.m. in a secondary inspection area at the San Ysidro border crossing, according to San Diego police and a Customs and Border Protection spokesperson.
According to a preliminary investigation, the alleged gunman was driving a white pickup and refused to stop for Customs and Border Protection officers at the port of entry driver checkpoint, San Diego police homicide Lt. Matt Dobbs said in a statement released early Tuesday.
The man steered the truck through the inspection area until he was forced to stop by a vehicle blocking his exit.
“The suspect began firing a gun out of his vehicle toward the officers, then exited his vehicle and continued firing at the officers,” Dobbs said. “The officers returned fire, striking the suspect.”
Seven of the federal officers engaged in the shootout, Dobbs said. None was injured by the gunfire.
The suspect died at the scene despite the life-saving medical efforts of federal officers, San Diego firefighters and medics, Dobbs said.
San Diego homicide detectives knew the identity the man who was killed — he was described as a 23-year-old white male U.S. citizen — but his name was not released pending family notifications, Dobbs said.
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