Your trusted source

A U.S. Border Patrol agent killed in an apparent friendly fire incident in Arizona may have shot and wounded a colleague after mistaking him for a drug smuggler in the dark, sparking return fire, a lawyer for the wounded agent said on Thursday, according to Reuters.

Nicholas Ivie, 30, was killed last week while responding to a tripped ground sensor in a well-known smuggling corridor near the U.S. border with Mexico. A second agent was wounded in the incident and a third was unharmed.

The FBI has said there were strong preliminary indications that Ivie's death was the result of friendly fire in an accidental shooting in which only Border Patrol agents were involved. It has released scant details on the circumstances.

A Tucson attorney who said he was representing the wounded agent, who has not been publicly identified, said his client returned fire only after being hit first in the ankle and buttocks.

"What probably happened is that Ivie confused my client for being a drug smuggler and fired on him," the attorney, Sean Chapman, said. "My client could only see a muzzle flash because it was dark. He did not return fire until he was struck in the ankle and the flank."

Chapman, who said he did not know if the return fire was responsible for Ivie's death, also raised the possibility that there were others on the scene in addition to the border agents.

He cited "strong evidence" there were drug smugglers in the area at the time and said people were heard speaking Spanish after the shots were fired. He declined to elaborate.

Chapman said he did not expect the agent, now on leave recovering from wounds, to face disciplinary measures.