Fallen BP agent identified

The U.S. Border Patrol agent killed after being struck by a smuggling vehicle was identified Sunday as Senior Patrol Agent Luis Aguilar, a husband, father and six-year veteran of the agency.

Aguilar was born and raised in El Paso, Texas. He came to the Yuma area to serve in the Border Patrol and lived here with his wife and two children.

"Today we mourn the loss of one of our own," Border Patrol Chief David Aguilar (no relation) said in a statement. "This serves as a tragic reminder of the dangers our agents face every day while securing our nation's border and our way of life."

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Michael Chertoff issued a statement on Aguilar's death as well, calling it a "heinous act" of increased violence in response to tougher border security.

Aguilar was killed Saturday near Gray's Well Road in the Imperial Sand Dunes Recreation Area, about eight miles west of the Andrade port of entry on the California-Mexico border.

His death is the first in the line of duty for the U.S. Border Patrol in 2008.

He was laying spike strips across the road in an attempt to stop two fleeing smuggling vehicles. One of them, a Hummer, struck and killed him.

Both vehicles fled into Mexico. The FBI is leading the investigation, along with other federal, state and local authorities. Mexican authorities are lending their full support to capture those involved, according to Border Patrol officials.

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Sun staff writer Sarah Reynolds contributed to this report. She can be reached at sreynolds@yumasun.com or 539-6847.