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The man accused of smuggling illegal immigrants, who was shot by federal agents this past Tuesday, is reportedly a repeat offender with a prior conviction for a similar crime, according to available records.
Authorities have identified the suspect as 34-year-old Patrick Gary Schlegel. He was recognized by law enforcement in connection with a potential human trafficking situation early Tuesday morning around 7:30 a.m., near Arivaca, Arizona, a location close to the U.S.-Mexico border. All occupants of the vehicle in question reportedly fled on foot. Schlegel has a previous conviction tied to a $40,000 human smuggling operation.
Later in the day, Border Patrol agents noticed the vehicle again and tried to conduct a traffic stop. Schlegel allegedly took off on foot, during which he is accused of firing shots at a U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) helicopter and agents on the ground.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security informed Fox News Digital that agents fired back, hitting Schlegel. He was subsequently transported to a hospital, where he is expected to recover following surgery, according to officials.
Patrick Gary Schlegel is accused of exchanging gunfire with law enforcement officers on Tuesday. (Facebook/Patrick Gary Schlegel)
Schlegel will likely face federal charges of assault on a federal officer, alien smuggling, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to authorities.
Heith Janke, the special agent in charge of the FBI’s Phoenix Division, said that Schlegel has a “significant criminal history,” which includes an active federal arrest warrant that was issued by the U.S. Marshals Service in 2025 after an escape tied to a previous federal alien smuggling conviction.
Schlegel was convicted of transportation of illegal aliens for profit and felon in possession of a firearm after a May 2023 incident where prosecutors said he smuggled people into the country.
On May 20, 2023, Schlegel tried to get 16 people across the southern border and was arrested. According to the criminal complaint, a Border Patrol camera observed a car being driven by Schlegel pick up a group of 16 suspected illegal immigrants, and showed him loading them into the bed of a pickup truck, covering them with a tarp. At that time, the suspected illegal aliens jumped out of the pickup truck and its bed.
This photo shows a US Border Patrol patch on a border agent’s uniform in McAllen, Texas, on January 15, 2019. (SUZANNE CORDEIRO/AFP via Getty Images)
A Border Patrol agent began following Schlegel until the suspect drove “recklessly off road through the desert,” the complaint states, adding that he “yelled angrily and threw rocks” at an Army National Guard helicopter.
Adela Martinez-Lopez, a witness in the case, told prosecutors that her cousin arranged for her to be smuggled into the U.S. for $12,000. Two other illegal immigrants claimed that they paid $14,000 to be smuggled into the U.S., totaling over $40,000. It’s unclear if all the money went to Schlegel. In January 2024, Schlegel was sentenced to three years in prison.
Court records in Arizona show Schlegel was also found guilty of misconduct involving weapons in 2024.
It is unclear what led to the encounter, or the subsequent shooting. (Herika Martinez/AFP via Getty Images)
Nanos said during a press conference that multiple shots were fired in Tuesday’s incident.
“In Pima County, we’re not tolerating any abuse of a law enforcement officer… any type of abuse, but that goes for our citizens as well,” the sheriff said.Â