PHOENIX — Authorities searching for drug smugglers who shot and wounded an Arizona sheriff’s deputy in the desert south of Phoenix said they captured 17 illegal-immigrant suspects Saturday, including three who might have been involved in the incident.
The three matched descriptions given by the Pinal County sheriff’s deputy who was grazed by a bullet fired by a one of about five smugglers. They were questioned but were not thought to have been the actual shooters, said sheriff’s Lt. Tamatha Villar.
The deputy, Louie Puroll, 53, was released from the hospital several hours after the incident Friday afternoon.
The shooting came amid a growing national debate over the state’s new law cracking down on illegal immigration. A backlash over the law has erupted, with civil rights activists calling for protests and boycotts because they are concerned it will lead to racial profiling.
Several hundred officers from local, state and federal law enforcement agencies, assisted by several helicopters, scoured a 10-square-mile area of rugged desert about 50 miles south of Phoenix on Saturday. The search was called off as darkness fell.
The U.S. Border Patrol searched areas outside the perimeter and made additional arrests of illegal-immigrant suspects. “Their numbers are much, much higher,” Villar said.
A Border Patrol spokesman said he couldn’t immediately ascertain how many detentions his agency made.
Criticism of the law figured prominently at dozens of immigrants-rights marches and rallies held Saturday across the nation, including Arizona events in Phoenix and Tucson that drew thousands.
The new law’s passage came amid increasing anger in Arizona about violence, drug smugglers and illegal-immigration drop houses.
The issue gained renewed attention a month ago when a southern Arizona rancher was shot and killed by a suspected illegal border crosser.
The violence “should show the rest of the country what we Arizonans have known for too long — the unsecured border poses a very real and very immediate danger,” said U.S. Rep. Ann Kirkpatrick, a Democrat whose district includes part of Pinal County.
Puroll was patrolling near Interstate 8 when he came upon a stash of marijuana bales and five suspected smugglers. At least one of the suspects opened fire on him.
A running gunbattle ensued, with at least 30 shots exchanged, probably many more, Villar said. The deputy used his pistol until it either jammed or ran out of bullets, then discarded the gun and began firing with his tactical rifle.
At some point, he was hit in the back, the bullet tearing out a chunk of flesh.
