Texas Border Patrol shooting suspect identified as assaults on agents surge

Details about the shooter who opened fire on Border Patrol agents at an annex in McAllen, Texas, Monday remain scant days later as assaults against federal immigration officials are on the rise. 

Authorities identified Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, as the suspect Monday, confirming Mosqueda was killed at the scene. 

“Both Border Patrol agents and local police helped neutralize the shooter,” a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson said Monday. “Two officers and a Border Patrol employee were injured, including one shot in the knee. All three have gone to the hospital. This is an ongoing investigation led by the FBI.”

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But the motive of the shooter still remains unknown, and McAllen, Texas, Police Chief Victor Rodriguez did not have any additional information to share with reporters during a news conference Monday about why Mosqueda opened fire on the agents. 

The McAllen, Texas, Police Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital request for more details. 

Rodriguez said the gunman fired off “many dozens” of rounds at Customs and Border Protection’s McAllen, Texas, station. Mosqueda is affiliated with a Michigan address, and his car had Michigan license plates. 

However, Rodriguez said Mosqueda was reported missing from an address in Weslaco, Texas, less than 20 miles away, and that “an hour and a few minutes later he was at this particular location, opening fire on a federal building.”

Mosqueda’s brother, Joe, told Detroit’s WDIV Local he’d never witnessed his brother speak about immigration issues or Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) but said he suspected he was dealing with undiagnosed mental health challenges. 

“Out of the blue,” Joe Mosqueda told the outlet. “I don’t know if he was intentionally targeting, I don’t know. I believe it was mental health issues.”

Joe Mosqueda or other family members could not be immediately reached for comment by email or phone calls by Fox News Digital. 

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The FBI and the Department of Homeland Security did not respond to a request for comment from Fox News Digital.  

The Department of Homeland Security reported earlier in July that assaults against ICE officers and other federal immigration agents have risen nearly 700% compared to 2024. While the agency reported 10 assault incidents between Jan. 1, 2024, and June 30, 2024, that number rose to 79 reported assaults in the same time frame in 2025. 

Other recent episodes of violence against law enforcement include another shooting near ICE’s Prairieland Detention Facility Friday, where a Texas police officer was shot in the neck. The Justice Department announced Tuesday that 10 individuals face charges in the shooting. 

The White House has urged Democrats to scale back language toward federal immigration officials after the shooting and other similar instances of violence. 

“We certainly call on Democrats to tone down their rhetoric against ICE and Border Patrol agents, who, again, are everyday men and women,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters Monday.

“These are honorable Americans who are just simply trying to do their job to enforce the law. They go home to their families every night, just like we all do, and they deserve respect and dignity for trying to enforce our nation’s immigration laws and to remove public safety threats from our communities.” 

Lawmakers, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-Wash., have issued harsh statements about ICE in recent weeks. Jayapal accused ICE of acting “like a terrorist force” in June and defended her comments in a July 2 interview with CNN after the White House demanded an apology from the lawmaker.

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Rep. Michael Guest, R-Miss., who oversees the House Homeland Security committee’s subcommittee on border security and enforcement, said in a statement Wednesday to Fox News Digital that “radical anti-law enforcement rhetoric” has prompted the uptick in crime against federal immigration officials. 

“This dangerous rhetoric from the far left jeopardizes the safety of our men and women in green. Violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated,” Green said. “The Committee on Homeland Security is in close contact with DHS concerning this attack on our law enforcement, and we will support the FBI’s investigation into the individual responsible and their motives.”

Fox News’ Peter Pinedo contributed to this report.