For the first time in more than 40 years, a Border Patrol agent was accidentally killed by a colleague.

For the first time in more than 40 years, a Border Patrol agent was accidentally killed by a colleague. On Sunday, the head of the Border Patrol union said a federal Border Patrol agent who died on duty in the southern part of the state last week...

For the first time in more than 40 years, a Border Patrol agent was accidentally killed by a colleague. A federal Border Patrol agent killed on duty in the southern part of the state last week apparently died in a fight with a colleague, the head of the Border Patrol agents' union said Sunday. The border officer who died first shot at two fellow border officers (mistaking them for armed smugglers) and was shot dead when the two officers fired back. George McCubbin, chairman of the National Border Patrol Council, said the two groups of agents approached an area with sensors at the same time because the sensors there were activated in different directions early Tuesday morning. The two groups met in a place with thick bushes. Officer Ivian apparently fired first and wounded an officer, but he was killed when the attacking officer returned fire. "I don't know what he saw or heard that triggered the whole incident," McCubbin said. Unfortunately, the incident resulted in his death and the injury of another officer. Cochise County Deputy Sheriff Rotlock confirmed this situation, but he was not sure that Ivian fired the first shot. That will be determined by the relevant federal investigative agencies, he said. The FBI said in a statement Friday that the shooting appeared to be a friendly fire incident because no one other than officers was involved. This is the first time since 1968 that a Border Patrol agent has been accidentally killed by a colleague.