Gunfire on Amtrak Train: D.E.A. Agent Killed, 2nd Agent Is Critically Wounded

A federal drug enforcement agent was killed and another was critically injured in a chaotic scene of gunfire aboard a crowded Amtrak train while it was stopped at a station in Tucson, Ariz., on Monday morning, the city’s police chief said.

A city police officer was also shot and was in stable condition, Chief Chris Magnus of the Tucson police said at a news conference on Monday afternoon, the New York Times reported.

The three law enforcement officers, members of a joint task force from the Drug Enforcement Administration and local police, were conducting a routine sweep of the train when two people on board reacted to their presence and one opened fire, the chief said.

“They were checking for illegal guns, money, drugs,” Chief Magnus said. “This is something they do, as I said, routinely at pretty much all transit hubs.”

What set off the gunfire was not completely clear, Chief Magnus said, adding that he did not know whether any guns or drugs were found by officers. Officials did not identify the officers or the two suspects.

It was not clear if all the gunfire happened aboard the train or whether some shots were fired on the platform.

The gunfire prompted the evacuation of the Sunset Limited Train 2, which had been carrying 137 passengers and 11 crew members at the time of the shooting. All of those aboard the train, which had been traveling from Los Angeles to New Orleans, were safely evacuated, an Amtrak spokesman said.

The gunfire began at around 8 a.m. local time while the double-decker train was stopped at a platform at the station in Tucson, and intensified about 15 minutes later, live web-camera footage from the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum showed.