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Report describes confusion during Border Patrol agent's shooting
One agent "did not recall if she fired her weapon," yet changed her clip
Reporter: Kevin Keen
TUCSON (KGUN9-TV) - It was a night of confusion that left one Border Patrol agent dead one month ago. Agent Nicholas Ivie was shot and killed near Bisbee -- likely from friendly fire, according to the FBI. Reports released Friday provide a new first-hand account of the midnight confusion.
The Cochise County Sheriff’s Office reports -- which are narratives from its responders at the scene -- include one account from one of the Border Patrol agents there. A sergeant interviewed her.
Officials redacted her name in the version of the report released to the media.
According to the report, the agent said she responded to a sensor alarm, but didn't remember at what time. It was in area she said she'd never been before. She joined another agent -- whose name she did not know -- and they headed toward the sensor.
She said Ivie was approaching from the opposite direction, the report states. She said they contacted Ivie by radio, and he signaled them with his flashlight.
Then, she heard yelling and gunfire and saw a muzzle flash. She took cover and drew her weapon.
Next, some confusion. She "did not recall if she fired her weapon," according to the report, but did say she changed her clip.
The report includes a sense of more confusion: "She thought she observed 3 to 4 people moving in the area but she could not describe them. She also mentioned hearing whispering. She could not say if it was in English or Spanish."
"She did not see (Agent Ivie) before the shooting or afterward,” the narrative continues, “The only way she knew he was in the area was through their radio communication."
After the shooting, according to the report, she waited for a Border Patrol helicopter to pick her up.
The report also lists evidence investigators later collected at the scene, including drink bottles and food wrappers deputies said often are from smugglers. Also on the scene: shoe prints, a trail of blood, rifle casings and a mesquite tree "with an apparent bullet hole.”
The reports do not clear up how many people investigators believe were at the scene. Were there smugglers there? These sheriff’s office reports don't say.
The FBI continues to investigate the shooting and declined to comment.
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