A Border Patrol agent shot dead one person Tuesday night after a chase on Highway 286 southwest of Tucson, officials said.

At approximately 6:45 p.m., Border Patrol agents stationed at the Tucson Station pursued a suspected smuggling vehicle on Highway 286, which runs from Sussabe, Arizona, to Highway 86 at Three Points. At one point, agents “used lethal force” against one of his individuals near Mile Post 20, according to a statement by U.S. Customs and Border Protection spokesman John Mennell.

At 6:47 p.m., a Pima County Sheriff’s Department agent received a request for assistance from the Border Patrol, Deputy Marissa Hernandez said. After arriving at the scene, deputies learned that the vehicle was “occupied by several individuals and one died.”

Detectives from the Sheriff’s Department’s Criminal Investigation Division were asked to “conduct interviews and process the scene.” said.

CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility will review the shooting with the PCSD, Menel said. The case will also be reviewed by the Office of the Inspector General of Homeland Security and his FBI.

A similar incident occurred on February 26, when Tucson Sector BP agents shot and killed one person on Interstate 19 south of Amado.

At about 9:50 p.m., Menel said, agents shot a man “while investigating a human smuggling case.” A man was taken to hospital with injuries, and four others were detained. Along with CBP’s Office of Professional Responsibility and his FBI, the Santa Cruz County Sheriff’s Office also responded.

Since the start of fiscal year 2023, which began on October 1, 2022, Border Patrol agents across the Southwest Border have used the military on 409 occasions. This includes 114 incidents involving “low-lethal” weapons such as tasers and batons. In six incidents, agents used firearms.

In the Tucson and Yuma districts of Arizona, agents used firearms twice before Wednesday’s incident and pushed 143 more cases.

One incident occurred in October just south of the border fence near San Luis on the mainland US, about 300 miles from Mexico.

Last year, former CBP Commissioner Chris Magnus announced that the agency’s Serious Incidents Team would be eliminated, moving immediate investigations of fatal and serious incidents from the increasingly controversial team to OPR.

Magnus, the former chief of the Tucson Police Department, was appointed by the Biden administration to help reform the National Police Agency. But last November, he resigned after being ordered to resign or be fired in order to appease right-wing forces criticizing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorcas.