By Daniel Borunda
El Paso Times

EL PASO — A cross-border shooting involving a U.S. Border Patrol agent is among a spike in violence along the Rio Grande in El Paso, including pellets fired from Mexico at workers building the controversial border fence, officials said Thursday.

There were no known injuries in the latest incident, which occurred Wednesday evening when Border Patrol agents responded to a group making an illegal crossing in the area near Riverside High School in the Lower Valley, Border Patrol spokes man Doug Mosier said.

Agents chased an alleged smuggler who crossed back into Mexico, where he was joined by another person and they began throwing rocks at the agents, Mosier said.

"The smuggler took position behind a small tree, pointed a handgun and yelled he was going to kill them (the agents)," Mosier said.

According to a preliminary investigation, the agent responded by firing three rounds from his service-issued handgun before the smuggler fled, Mosier said. The FBI, El Paso police and Mexican authorities have been contacted.

Thursday morning, investigators could be seen searching through brush at the site of the shooting in a spot of the border lined by fences, floodlights, surveillance cameras and agents stationed at various intervals.

Border Patrol officials have said the rise in assaults and other violence could be due to smugglers' frustration by tightened border security.

Smugglers have also been known to create diversions, including assaults on agents, for crossing attempts.

Just east of the site of the shooting, agents have increased their presence where the border fence is being built after workers were targeted by assailants in Mexico and windows of government vehicles were broken.

"There has been a recent increase in the number of assaults reported by contractors working on the fence, mostly in the form of rocks being thrown or possible gunshots, (but) most of that is believed to be pellet guns," Mosier said.

In an incident last month, night-vision surveillance cameras filmed a man with a rifle crossing the Rio Grande and aiming at passing cars on West Paisano Drive before returning to Juárez. He tossed the rifle into the river before the arrival of Juárez police.

The rifle, which might have been a BB gun, was not recovered. There were no known injuries.

The recent violence along the border, which has been on the rise since last year, is occurring while El Paso law enforcement is on heightened alert due to a drug cartel war that has left about 1,150 dead this year in Juárez.

There were 131 assaults on Border Patrol agents in the El Paso region in fiscal year 2008, which ended in September, compared with 101 assaults a year ago, agency officials said. 

Times reporter Stephanie Sanchez contributed to this report.

Copyright 2008 El Paso Times, a MediaNews Group Newspaper