Active shooter killed in exchange of gunfire at Border Patrol facility in Texas

A man was killed in an exchange of gunfire outside a US Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas. Photo / Getty Images (file)

A man was killed in an exchange of gunfire outside a US Border Patrol facility in McAllen, Texas, on Monday, after he opened fire near the building and law enforcement personnel confronted him, according to federal officials who are investigating the incident.

Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, began shooting in the parking lot, aiming toward the building and law enforcement officials, just before 6 a.m., said John Saenz, a spokesman for the McAllen Police Department. One responding police officer, Ismael Garcia, a 10-year veteran of the force, was wounded in the knee and is being treated at a local hospital, Saenz said. He is in stable condition.

In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security said two others were wounded, including a Border Patrol employee.

“Both Border Patrol agents and local police helped neutralize the shooter,” according to a DHS spokesperson. “All three have gone to the hospital. This is an ongoing investigation led by the FBI.”

Federal officials said there is no ongoing public safety threat but cautioned that people should avoid going to the area.

Authorities have not determined a motive. Mosqueda was a Michigan resident, according to his forms of identification and his vehicle tags and registration, Saenz said. He was reported missing on Sunday from an another address associated with him in Weslaco, Texas, a city near McAllen, the police spokesman added.

Mosqueda arrived at the Border Patrol facility in a small white passenger car, parked in the facility’s parking lot, exited his vehicle with an assault rifle and opened fire, Saenz said. He was wearing a tactical vest and moved through the parking lot, continuing to fire at federal and local officers.

After Mosqueda was killed, officers found additional weapons in his vehicle, including another rifle and ammunition, Saenz said.

“It looked like this person was prepared for some very violent work,” he said.

The FBI said the McAllen Police Department received calls at 5:53 a.m. of shots fired outside the Border Patrol station and contacted federal authorities.

The McAllen office is part of the Border Patrol’s Rio Grande sector, which was one of the busiest for border crossings in the early years of the Biden administration and during the first Trump administration. Illegal border crossings have plunged to the lowest level in decades since President Donald Trump took office, declared an emergency at the southern border and began expelling migrants without hearing their asylum claims.

The region has a large agricultural industry and growing economy, and the vast majority of its population is Hispanic, including Mexican Americans.

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Arelis R. Hernández and Maria Sacchetti contributed to this report.