Amid a heated national debate on illegal immigration, a sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded Friday after encountering a group of suspected illegal immigrants who apparently had been hauling bales of marijuana along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert.
A sheriff's deputy was shot and wounded Friday after encountering a group of suspected illegal immigrants who apparently had been hauling bales of marijuana along a major smuggling corridor in the Arizona desert.
The violent episode comes amid a heated national debate over immigration.
Arizona deputy shot; illegal immigrants suspected
State and federal law enforcement agencies deployed helicopters and scores of officers in pursuit of the suspects after the deputy was shot with an AK-47 on Friday afternoon.
Authorities say 53-year-old Pinal County Sheriff's Deputy Louie Puroll had a chunk of skin torn from just above his left kidney, but the wound was not serious. He was treated at Casa Grande Regional Medical Center and released Friday night.
