Off-duty BP agent shoots man in hand during confrontation in Pinal County

An off-duty Border Patrol agent shot a man in the hand during a confrontation near a Pinal County subdivision Tuesday evening, authorities said. 

The unnamed agent encountered Codey Foy near Tortosa, a planned subdivision in Maricopa, Arizona, and shot him in the left hand. Officials with the Maricopa Police Department said that Foy's wound was not life threatening. 

Border Patrol officials said that the agent was "physically uninjured." 

Foy had fled from police earlier that afternoon, and was suspected of stealing a truck, officials said. 

The incident began Tuesday morning when the Pinal County Sheriff's issued a "be on the lookout" for Foy in connection with a stolen truck. Around 2 p.m., Maricopa Police were called about a "suspicious vehicle" at a nearby park, and when officers went to check on the vehicle, Foy fled from the officers, reported InMaricopa.com. 

Police began searching for Foy, blocking off an intersection near the subdivision as officials searched for Foy, who was described as a 5-foot-9, 140 man. Richard Alvarado, a spokesman with the MPD told InMaricopa.com that police did not believe that Foy was armed, but that he had multiple warrants out for his arrest, and Alvarado asked the public to stay away while officers searched the subdivision.  

Police continued searching for Foy until after 6 p.m. 

Later that evening, around 10 p.m. MPD said on Twitter that they were working on an "OIS," or an officer-involved shooting, and that a Border Patrol agent was involved. 

In a statement, Tucson Sector Chief Roy Villareal said the unnamed agent confronted Foy, and "during the encounter" the agent fired his weapon and hit Foy. Villareal said that agents "face dangers such as this, each and everyday in the protection of our country." 

Border Patrol's parent agency began reporting use-of-force incidents to the public following years of criticism about the agency's handling of shootings, especially after a series of high-profile cross-border shootings that killed several people, including 16-year-old Jose Antonio Elena Rodriguez in Nogales, Sonora. 

And, from 2014 to 2018, the agency issued a report about the number and range of incidents, including shootings, and the use of less-lethal weapons like tasers, batons, and pepper-ball guns. However, the agency's latest numbers stop in the fiscal year of 2018, which ended September 30, 2018. 

During that year, CBP officials said that agents and officers were involved in 534 incidents that include around 913 "singular uses of force." The agency also reported that CBP officials, which includes Border Patrol agents were assaulted around 450 times. 

The agency has also stopped summaries from the agency's National Use of Force Review Board, the last one that was published describes an incident that occurred in January 2017.