US immigration agent kills gun rampage colleague

An immigration agent opened fire on a colleague and was then killed by a third agent in a government building in California, following what the FBI said was a case of workplace violence.

Fri, 17 Feb, 2012 - 07:50

An immigration agent opened fire on a colleague and was then killed by a third agent in a government building in California, following what the FBI said was a case of workplace violence.

FBI Special Agent Steven Martinez said the shooting happened at about 5.30pm local time yesterday, in Long Beach.

Mr Martinez said the incident initially involved two federal agents. One fired several rounds at the other, wounding him, then another agent intervened and additional rounds were fired, resulting in the shooter’s death.

The injured agent is in a stable condition, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Special Agent in Charge Claude Arnold said.

“At times like this, words honestly seem inadequate. When something like this happens in our offices, it’s incomprehensible,” he added.

Names of the agents involved were not released pending notification of next of kin.

In addition to ICE, the nine-story federal building also houses the Internal Revenue Service and the US Probation and Parole Office.