Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Deputy Commissioner David V. Aguilar, and CBP Commander of Arizona Joint Field Command Jeffrey Self, are scheduled to visit the family of slain Agent Nicholas Ivie. Napolitano, Aguilar and Self will also meet with federal, state and local law enforcement officials at the Brian A. Terry Border Patrol Station in Bisbee, Ariz. regarding the ongoing investigation of Ivie’s death.
Ivie along with three other agents were inspecting a tripped sensor that was installed underground to alert authorities of illegal border crossing. Agent Ivie and two other agents were ambushed near Bisbee, Arizona, at approximately 1:30 am Tuesday according to the National Border Patrol Council. The three agents were on mounted patrol in the area about five miles north of the border and seven miles east of Bisbee south of Arizona Highway 80.
Because of the rocky terrain, the agents dismounted and were hiking into the area when they were suddenly fired upon. Agent Ivie was fatally wounded and one other agent was less severely wounded. The wounded agent was airlifted to University Medical Center. He was shot in the ankle and buttocks and suffered non-life threatening injuries.
On Thursday, Agent Ivie’s family and friends gathered for a news conference in Sierra Vista. His wife Christy and his brother Joel, a Border Patrol agent who also worked horse-patrol duty watched as the slain agent’s loved one’s talked about his life.
According to the LATimes, in the field, Border Patrol Agent Nicholas Ivie was the officer who once carried a pregnant woman for a mile and a half after finding her in the desert barefoot and bleeding.
Ivie did his Mormon mission in Mexico when he was a young man. He worked as a Border Patrol agent since 2008. He is survived by his wife and two young duaghters, ages 1, and 4.
Twenty-six Border Patrol agents have died in the line of duty since 2002.
Two years ago, Agent Brian Terry was killed in the same area when he and other agents came across five men they suspected of being illegal immigrants. A firefight ensued leaving Terry dead and four of the men arrested. The weapons found at the scene were linked to the U.S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms “Fast and Furious” program.
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