A Pinal County Sheriff's deputy was shot in the stomach Friday after a traffic stop on Interstate 8, according sheriff's officials.Authorities said the deputy was shot by a suspected undocumented immigrant and at least two suspects were being sought.
The deputy apparently pulled over a vehicle on Interstate 8 near Arizona 84 at about 4:30 p.m. Friday.
When the deputy approached the vehicle, he was shot in the stomach, said Lt. Tamatha Villar, spokesperson for the Pinal County Sheriff's Office. He radioed dispatch to say he had been shot but could not be found when authorities arrived at the scene.
The deputy was located more than an hour later and taken to the Casa Grande Medical Center for treatment. His condition was not available.
The Maricopa County Sheriff's Office dispatched a helicopter and members of its SWAT team to Pinal County to assist in the case, said MCSO Lt. Brian Lee. Lee said at 5:45 p.m. there were reports over the police scanner that suspects were shooting at a police helicopter. Lee did not know which agency was operating the helicopter.
The Border Patrol has sent agents to assist the Pinal County Sheriff's Office with the investigation, said Mario Escalante, a Border Patrol spokesman assigned to the Tucson sector.
Moose posted at about the same time and added this:
Pinal County is just southeast of Maricopa County, and home to a major State max prison at Florence. They don't play games there.
Update at 0915 CT: Great comment from a reader who writes to Jim Hoft at Gateway Pundit:
Our retirement home is in AZ City—right next to Casa Grande. This “incident' occurred in the vicinity of Hwy's 8 & 84—less then 10 miles from our house. We were there over the weekend returning Tuesday. Monday night—while driving on Hwy 10—-we saw several police in hot pursuit—-and they ended up surrounding a house in our development less then a half mile from our house. So, all I have to say about all those idiot libs, Hollywood dopes, etc, etc………what about our US rights? Who is going to protect us from this violence? How can we ever relax in our retirement home? Will our property value ever recover given our house is located in this major smuggling/mayhem war zone? Maybe the government should buy our property to house the border patrol and/or national guard? Anybody who objects to us wanting our protection under US law ought to put some of their own lives or property on the line. Or, let them start a fund to buy back our property.