Border Patrol shoots, wounds AZ man
Officials say alleged trafficker had fired at helicopter, agents
By: Robert Anglen
and Sarah Lapidus
Arizona Republic
USA Today Network
PHOENIX - A U.S. Border Patrol agent shot and critically injured a man who first shot at a helicopter and then at agents while trying to flee form a traffic stop 35 miles south of Tucson, Arizona, on January 27, [2026] authorities said.
.....
Patrick Gary Schlegal, 34, of Sahuarita, Arizona, was taken to a Tucson hospital and remained in serous condition.
..... Schlegel has an extensive criminal record and an outstanding 2025 warrant for escape related to a past human trafficking conviction, authorizes said.
..... Pima County Sheriff Chris Nanos and Phoenix FBI Special Agent in Charge Heith Janke said border agents recognized Schlegel's vehicle from an earlier incident, and he drive away when they attempt to stop him.
..... After a chase, Schlegel, who was alone in the vehicle, jumped out and fled into the desert, they said. The suspect fried at an air and Marine Operations helicopter, authorities said, and at Border Patrol agents, who returned fire, striking the suspect.
..... Schlegel is expected to be charged with assault on a federal officer, of a firearm, Janke said.
..... Nanos and Janke shared few details about the shooting or Schlegel's criminal past during an afternoon news conference at the sheriff's department in Tucson. They described the case as "an assault upon a federal officer."
..... "While reacting to an active alien smuggling matter, CBP agents came into contact with the subject," Janke said. "During the attempt to apprehend him, the subject used a firearm to shoot at a manned CBP helicopter. The subject continue to flee on foot who returned fire."
.... Nanos siad his department was assisitng teh FBI in the investigaiton as part of a coordinated effort with federal agencies on "critical incidents." The Customs and Border Protection's Office of Professional Responsibility was also investigating.
.....
"The request for assistance was made by the Federal Bureau of Investigations earlier toddy," the sheriff's department said in a January 27 [2026] news release, adding that the department "is conducting a parallel investigation and has been asked to lead the use-of-force-investigation involving the agent."
..... Arivaca is a popular border crossing, and the unincorporated ranching community has become, a flash point for controversy during the Trump administration's crackdown on immigration.
..... A humanitarian group that provides water and medical aid for immigrants accused border agents in December [2025] of entering a camp without a warrant and taking three immigrants into custody.
..... Representative Adelita Grijalva, D-Arizona, condemned the action, saying the camp has "Existed for decades to keep people from dying in the desert."
Protesters, humanitarian groups react to shooting
..... After news of the shooting broke, Tucson residents hit the streets to protest against Border and ICE violence. The Party for Socialism and Liberation organized a protest at Banner University Medical Center, were the victim was airlifted.
.....
Around 3 PM., before the news conference had added new details of the shooting, about a dozen people were protesting with signs in front of the hospital. By 6:30 PM., the group had grown to almost 80 protesters.
..... They held signs saying, "Stop ICE Terror" and "ICE out of Tucson," chanting with a megaphone, decrying ICE violence.
..... Brick by brick, wall by wall, this racist system has to fall," people chanted to the cacophony of honking horns.
..... Two people who spoke to The Arizona Republic, part of the USA Today Network, said they had heard of a person being shot by Border Patrol agents but did not know what was said in the news conference.
..... "We're here because Boarder Patrol and ICE are murdering people and they are trying to divide people through racism," said Firoz Aziz, a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. "They are attacking regular, everyday people. They killed Renee Nicole Good. They murdered Alex Pretti. We are here to say that needs to stop and ICE needs to leave everywhere."
.....
"The trauma now being inflicted by Border Patrol and ICE agents in the U.S. cities is, sadly, an extension of what we've seen for decades in communities near Southern border," said Laurie Cantillo, a member of the organization Humane Borders.
..... "Almost 4,500 men, women, and children have died in our state alone while seeking safety and a better life. Theses are just the deaths we know about," she said.
'They are out if contrarily,' rancher says of agents
..... Longtime Arivaca resident Ken Buchanan, who is often referred to as the town's "unofficial mayor," said the shooting occurred in a very remote area about a half-mile away from the nearest house. He said that based on where crime scene tape was put up, the shooting was closer to Amado than to Arivaca.
.... Amado sits at the junction of Arivaca Road and Interstate 19. A Border Patrol checkpoint is located about 2 miles west of the interstate, which was closed due to the shooting. Buchanan said when the road is blocked, residents must detour more than 100 miles round-trip to get in and out of Tucson.
..... "We don't know nothing about what happened, and we're not going to know," Buchanan told The Republic before the news conference. He said the Border Patrol rarely offers information about indents involving its agents.
.....
"They are out of control," he said. "And had been getting worse."
.....
The shooting comes after federal immigration agents shot and killed two U.S. citizens during raids and protests in Minnesota. Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, was shot multiple times in the street on January 24 [2026] as he attempted to film agents. Good 27 was shot multiple times in her care on January 7. [2026]
..... Federal authorities said Pretti and Good posed threats to agents, although cell phone videos of both incidents appeared to contradict those claims.