39-year-old charged after incident on U.S. side of B.C. border

From June 16: An American border patrol agent shot someone in a wooded area just metres away from the Peace Arch crossing in B.C.

A 39-year-old man has been charged after he was allegedly shot by a border guard near the Canada-U.S. border in Blaine, Wash., Tuesday.

Nathanial A. Muniz-Spry, of Everson, Wash., was scheduled to appear in federal court in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, according to a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

Muniz-Spry’s appearance will be in response to “a criminal complaint charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm,” according to the spokesperson.

Muniz-Spry is allegedly the man shot by U.S. Border Patrol agents just across the border from South Surrey, B.C., on Tuesday morning.

The incident occurred near the corner of 4th Street and A Street, approximately 100 metres from the Peace Arch border crossing, according to local police.

A spokesperson for U.S. Customs and Border Protection, which oversees the U.S. Border Patrol, confirmed that an agent fired his service weapon during an encounter with an individual near the border.

“The subject was injured and received medical treatment,” said commissioner Rodney Scott in a statement.

The agency’s office of professional responsibility is investigating the officer’s use of force, while the FBI leads the criminal investigation, he added.

Len Saunders, a U.S. immigration lawyer in Blaine, says the incident occurred at around 5:30 a.m. and drew a “massive law enforcement” response to a wooded area next to the border that is known to be a hotspot for smugglers.

“There is lots of people who they catch, who usually sneak in through the park or sneak in through the bushes,” said Saunders, who has lived in Blaine for 25 years. “But it’s very rare that you actually hear that someone is shot for an action like this.”

Muniz-Spry’s court appearance was scheduled to happen at 2 p.m. Wednesday.

With files from CTV News Vancouver’s Todd Coyne