Border Patrol agent killed in Arizona

U.S. Border Patrol Senior Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar was intentionally struck and killed Saturday by a Hummer vehicle fleeing law enforcement officers as he put down spike strips near the entrance of a popular campground about a mile from the border in Arizona. 'The Hummer sped up and swerved toward our agent, killing him,' said Agent Eric Anderson, spokesman for the Border Patrol's Yuma sector.

A half hour earlier agents had seen a brown Hummer and a red Ford F-250 pickup crossing from Mexico into the United States.
The vehicles traveled west on Interstate 8, and the vehicles turned around, heading back the way they had come with the Border Patrol in pursuit. 'We don't know if they were smuggling people or drugs,' Anderson said.

After the agent was struck, both vehicles escaped into Mexico. Anderson said Mexican authorities are cooperating in the search for the suspects. Agent Aguilar was based at the Yuma sector, where about 850 agents work.

In a statement, DHS Secretary Michael Chertoff said "I am outraged by this tragic loss. I have spoken to the Mexican ambassador who gives me both his condolences and deep assurance that their government will be resolute in tracking down the perpetrators, and bringing them to swift justice. I'm insisting that the full force of the law be used in this investigation."