Overview
- A U.S. Border Patrol agent discharged his service weapon during an encounter at the intersection of 4th Street and A Street in Blaine, Washington, on Tuesday, striking a man who was taken to a hospital while the agent was not injured.
- The FBI is leading a criminal investigation into the shooting and CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility is conducting a separate use-of-force review.
- Department of Justice officials identified the injured man as 39-year-old Nathanial A. Muniz-Spry of Everson and charged him with being a felon in possession of a firearm.
- Court records and local reporting say surveillance showed Muniz-Spry near the international boundary, agents found a loaded Hi-Point C9 during a pat-down after he moved his hands inside his sweatshirt, a struggle followed and an agent fired, wounding him in the leg; his next hearing is set for July 1.
- The incident occurred a few hundred yards from the Peace Arch border crossing and prompted a multiagency response from Blaine police, the Whatcom County sheriff, CBP and the FBI, raising fresh scrutiny of border enforcement practices and intergovernmental coordination.