Recently I read an article/story in The Boarder Line in the 38th volume, Winter 2014. This story was titled Walk A Mile in His Boots by Ron Colburn. This story reflected the last patrol of Border Patrol Agent Nick Ivie of the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station (Naco, AZ). Colburn framed the story with the death of NFL pro football player Pat Tillman. Colburn uses Tillman to call memorial to the fallen agent. Colburn told the story of the friendly fire death of Nick Ivie. Being careful to not blame either Ivie or the other agents involved, because it was not their fault. The story really served a as a reminder of the dangers and risks border patrol agents first and foremost, along side with the other first responders and military. Colburn even put in at the end that the U.S. Border Patrol has lost more agents than all the 22 other agencies in the department combined such as the Coast Gaurd, ICE, and Air Marshals. The full article goes into depth of what really happened that night. The most contributing factors that lead to this shooting was darkness, miscommunication, and an incident that happened just a couple years earlier. It was in the middle of the night, practically pitch black. The agents don't use flashlights because they don't want to give away their location. The agents involved miscommunication location and eta. Just a couple years earlier Brain Terry was killed by "rip crew"bandits in the same state, and in similar conditions. Again the story really just goes to serve as a reminder that it is dangerous out there. For Border Patrol especially, but same goes for law enforcement and military as well. The high stress and quick actions and reactions can lead to fatal mistakes.
This article is not readily available to the public. The story can be found in many places. Bellow are some link related to the incidents.
The Ivie case
On the early morning of Oct. 2, 2012, Border
Patrol Agent Nick Ivie approached an unattended ground censor in a
rugged hilly area about five miles north of the border, near Bisbee. Two
other agents approached from a different direction.
Standing in the middle of the desert, surrounded by darkness, Ivie
spotted two silhouettes approaching. The one in front carried a rifle.
Ivie crouched to make himself as small as possible.
The first silhouette passed Ivie by a few steps before turning back, rifle over the shoulder.
Within seconds, Ivie fired 10 rounds of his H&K P2000 service
pistol and the figure in silhouette fired six rounds from his M-4 rifle.
One of those bullets struck Ivie in the head. He died almost instantly.
http://azstarnet.com/news/local/border/few-details-still-in-deadly-border-patrol-friendly-fire-case/article_b01aa65c-80d7-5fe2-8dc0-a47501e62bf1.html
If you scroll down to the bottom on this link there is more of Colburn's take on the events
http://www.bob-owens.com/2011/12/fbi-informant-led-rip-crew-that-murdered-border-patrol-agent/
The video in this link shows a mock on lack of communication between agencies. Not the case post 9-11 and in today's time, but it was true at one point in history.
