DEA agent killed, 2nd agent and officer hurt after man opens fire in Tucson Amtrak train

A Drug Enforcement Administration special agent was killed Monday when a passenger, who also died, opened fire as officers were doing a routine inspection for illegal contraband on an Amtrak train in Tucson, authorities said. A second agent and a Tucson police officer were wounded. 

"It's very horrific and we're all just coming to terms with just how terrible a loss this is," Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus said. "But I also want to reflect on the really heroic actions of the officers at the scene. They literally ran towards the danger, into the car, where there was an active shooting situation going on."

Magnus spoke outside the hospital where the wounded agent and Tucson officer had been taken. The agent was listed in critical condition while the officer was in stable condition. He said authorities would not be releasing their names.

Gov. Doug Ducey tweeted a statement late Monday afternoon about the shooting.

"My heartfelt condolences are with the loved ones and colleagues of the DEA agent who lost his life today in Tucson. Two other law enforcement officers are injured in the hospital. Our prayers are with them, their families and the law enforcement community," he wrote.

What we know about the shooting

The shooting, which sent passengers fleeing, happened just after 8 a.m. on a train stopped at the station in the city's downtown. A regional task force of DEA agents and Tucson police officers had boarded one of the cars to do a typical check for illegal money, weapons and drugs. It's a common occurrence at all transit hubs, Magnus said. 

Officers were in the middle of detaining a man on the upper level of the double-decker car when a second man pulled out a handgun and began firing. He exchanged several rounds with police and then barricaded himself in a bathroom on the lower level, Magnus said.

He was later found dead inside.

The other suspect has been arrested. It wasn't immediately known what charges he faces or his relationship to the second man. 

Magnus praised Tucson police officers for getting the injured DEA agent off the train and rushing him to the hospital in the back of a patrol car. The hospitalized Tucson officer had been on the platform when he heard the shooting. He was shot when he ran into the car to help. 

There were about a dozen other passengers in the car where the shooting occurred.

"I just think it's kind of incredible here there weren't other people who were hurt, even though we're completely so saddened by the loss of the officer," Magnus said. Amtrak spokesman Jason Abrams also confirmed there were no reported injuries to the crew or passengers.

The Sunset Limited, Train 2, was traveling from Los Angeles to New Orleans, and arrived at the Tucson station at 7:40 am, Abrams said. There were 137 passengers and 11 crew members, he said. All have been evacuated to the station.

The Tucson Police Department told The Arizona Republic that the FBI had taken over the investigation.

Brooke Brennan, an FBI spokesperson, told The Republic that the agency was processing the scene with help from Tucson police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Additional information was not immediately available.

Bystander photo, surveillance video reveals more about shooting

Evan Courtney was in a lounge car when people suddenly came running in yelling: "Shots fired!" 

"I grabbed my backpack and ran," Courtney told The Associated Press via Twitter direct messaging.

He said he huddled with other passengers while looking out the window. He saw several tactical police officers with assault rifles behind barricades. After 15 minutes, "police ran to us and told us to get out of the car and run in the opposite direction."

Courtney later tweeted a photo of nearly two dozen officers including two embracing.

Dramatic video taken by a camera at the Southern Arizona Transportation Museum shows some of the shooting. 

Multiple shots can be heard from inside a train before a man, who appears to be a security officer with a dog, runs toward the train and boards in the middle of the second-to-last car through an open door. Two bystanders back away and then run past a baggage cart, joining four others as they usher each other into the last car and the door slides shut, the video shows.

"Get out of here, get out of here," someone can be heard yelling. 

One shot is heard and the security officer, holding a gun, backs off the train with the dog still on the leash. He runs behind a structure on the train platform as a man appears at the passenger car door, fires three shots toward the fleeing man and dog, and disappears back inside.

The security officer reappears in the frame for a moment and flinches when another gunshot can be heard. A total of at least 20 shots can be heard in less than a minute and a half. 

Over the next roughly 20 minutes, officers can be seen arriving and heard talking about trying to get control of the scene; a man can be seen running off the train with his hands up; and many more shots can be heard. Around 8:20 a.m. officers can be seen helping people off the back car of the train and then a patrol vehicle speeds off with its sirens on, possibly carrying the agent as Magnus referenced. 

The camera belongs to Virtual Railfan, which operates more than 50 cameras livestreaming train operations around the country for train buffs. Kathy Abbott, operations manager, said both Tucson police and Amtrak police have asked for any footage to be made available.

Virtual Railfan's cameras do capture crime but "maybe not this dramatic," Abbott said. "This was definitely an adrenaline rush."

As of 6:20 p.m. Monday, Virtual Railfan's camera at the Tucson train station was still livestreaming, showing investigators processing the scene as the sun set. 

Tucson mayor: 'An absolutely shocking act of violence'

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero condemned the shooting on Twitter and ordered flags at all city buildings be lowered to half staff to honor the dead and injured.

"The shooting that took place this morning at our downtown train station was an absolutely shocking act of violence," Romero said in a written statement. "I ask all Tucsonans to join me in praying for the deceased DEA officer and for the swift recovery of the law enforcement officers who were injured."

“We at the DEA are heartbroken by today’s events and ask that you keep the families of the agents and task force officer in your thoughts and prayers,” said Anne Milgram, administrator for the agency.

U.S. Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement he was "deeply saddened" by the shooting. 

“This past week has been a reminder for all of us at the Department of Justice of the risks our deputies, agents and local law enforcement partners confront each day," he said. 

Procession of officers leaves train station

Alexys Kamper told The Republic she was in the vicinity of the transit center when she heard gunshots and noticed police escorting passengers off of the train.

"I asked a police officer what's going on so I could know what's happening and they told me there's an active shooter," she said.

By 2:30 p.m., Kamper said she was exhausted from being stuck at the station and unsure of how to catch a bus. She was one of several people left stranded and waiting for buses that had been rerouted since the shooting occurred.

"In the morning I was kind of scared because I did hear gunshots ... now I'm kind of just tired. I want to go home but I kind of can't do that yet."

A handful of people near Pennington Street and Sixth Avenue by the station watched around 3:30 p.m. as a sea of police vehicles ranging from motorcycles to pick-up trucks drove in a procession across Tucson with their lights flashing, slowly passing by crime-scene tape that remained up and waving in the gentle breeze.

Vehicle processions are a common tradition in law enforcement meant to honor officers who die in the line of duty. While many law-enforcement processions often include a vehicle carrying the officer’s body to a medical examiner's office, funeral or cemetery, it was not immediately clear whether any of the vehicles in Monday’s procession carried the agent’s body.

Republic reporters Amaris Encinas and Perry Vandell and Associated Press reporters Terry Tang and Michelle A. Monroe contributed to this story.