Three people were reportedly arrested Friday in connection with the fatal shooting of a Border Patrol agent while on duty in a remote area near Campo, and News 8 has confirmed that one of those arrested is a "person of interest" in the murder.
Hours after federal authorities made their pledge to capture 30-year old Robert Rosas Jr.'s killers, several news outlets reported that three suspects, two men and one woman, in his slaying had been arrested at a San Jose hospital.
Border Patrol and FBI officials were not immediately available to confirm or deny those accounts.
"They came walking in there with their guns and they were all lined up they blocked all the cars in here there must've been like 15, 16 cop cars," a witness said.
Rosas, an El Centro resident and three-year member of the Border Patrol, was tracking suspected illegal border-crossers about 9:15 p.m. Thursday when he came under fire on Shockey Truck Trail.
The attackers disappeared into the darkness as the victim's fellow agents rushed to his aid. Despite emergency care, Rosas died of multiple gunshot wounds at the scene.
"Last night, Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar and I were devastated to learn about the senseless killing of one of our young Border Patrol Agents, Robert Rosas," U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Jayson Ahern said Friday.
"Agent Rosas' murder is a tragic reminder of the ever-present dangers CBP officers, Air & Marine and Border Patrol agents face as they protect our nation's borders."
At a briefing this afternoon, federal officials bitterly denounced the killing and offered a $100,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the assailants.
"We're going to do everything within our (power) to bring these people to justice," said Rick Barlow, acting chief Border Patrol agent in the San Diego area.
Keith Slotter, special agent in charge of the FBI's San Diego office, told reporters it was unclear how many attackers were involved in the slaying.
Slotter also said he could not say if Rosas was able to return fire, though he said blood evidence at the scene suggested that at least one of the killers might have been wounded in some way.
Authorities said they could not confirm or deny rumors that a suspect in the slaying had been taken into custody in the Tecate area.
At the time of the shooting, Rosas was working with other agents to capture suspected illegal immigrants and drug smugglers, authorities said.
When the group of suspects dispersed, Rosas went off into the darkness by himself to follow some of them, an act that Border Patrol officials described as routine for members of the federal agency working the vast territory surrounding the U.S.-Mexico line.
Slotter said U.S. authorities were closely working with Mexican authorities and checking with hospitals and clinics on both sides of the international line to determine if anybody wounded in the fatal attack has sought medical aid.
"The FBI, the San Diego County Sheriff's Office, our brothers and sisters in ICE, and the government of Mexico all are working with CBP in an international effort to locate and bring to justice the perpetrators of this atrocious act," Ahern said.
Barlow said the ranks of the Border Patrol were mourning the murder of Rosas, the father of a 2-year-old son and an 11-month-old daughter.
In a statement, Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Vista, said the "thoughts and prayers of our entire region are with the family and friends of this fallen agent."
