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The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agent killed in an Amtrak train shooting in Arizona on Monday has been identified as a former Nashville, Tennessee police officer, according to reports.
Officer Michael “Mike” Garbo was killed after gunshots broke out on the Amtrak train bound for New Orleans – as a task force made up of local and federal agencies responsible for l Law enforcement was performing a routine check for illegal guns, drugs, cash and other items around 8 a.m. at a train station in downtown Tucson.
Garbo worked for the Metro Nashville Police Department from 1993 to 2005 before joining the DEA, where he served as a group supervisor, FOX 17 Nashville reported.
ARIZONA AMTRAK SHOT LEAVES DEATH OFFICER, DEADLY SUSPECT, DETAINED PERSON, AUTHORITIES SAY
A Tucson Police Department SWAT truck is parked near the last two cars of an Amtrak train in Tucson, Ariz. On Monday after a shooting killed DEA agent Michael “Mike” Garbo (Associated Press, DEA)
In a statement, DEA administrator Anne Milgram said Garbo was loved and respected throughout the agency “for his leadership and for his relentless passion to protect the safety of the American people.”
“Above all, he was a devoted and loving father and husband,” she added.
Authorities had met two people on the second floor of the double-decker train and were talking to one of them when the second person opened fire, Tucson Police Chief Chris Magnus told reporters.
The suspected gunman then barricaded himself in a train washroom, Magnus said, according to FOX 17. Authorities later determined that the suspect was dead, although Magnus does not know if officers shot him or her. ‘he committed suicide.
Others hospitalized
A second officer and a Tucson policeman were also shot dead several times and remained in stable condition on Tuesday, the DEA said. The authorities have not disclosed their identity.
The inspection followed Amtrak’s advice, according to a federal criminal complaint released Tuesday. The Sunset Limited, train 2, carried 137 passengers and 11 crew.
The shooting took place after the surviving suspect, Devonte Okeith Mathis, was seen by an officer leaving a backpack and two bags a few rows away from him on one of the cars on the double-decker train.
Devonte Okeith Mathis (Rockwall County Sheriff’s Office)
Mathis denied that the items belonged to him before an officer questioned him and discovered two large packages of loose marijuana in the backpack, according to the complaint. The officer then alerted Garbo and the other officer, who got back into the car to speak to the second suspect and were ambushed by gunfire.
GUIRLAND ‘DEEPLY ATTRIBUTED’ BY 2 RECENT DEATHS OF FEDERAL OFFICERS IN SERVICE
Following a search warrant, the bags contained 5.3 pounds of marijuana, 50 packages each containing 3.5 grams of edible marijuana products, as well as other cannabis products, according to the complaint. .
Mathis was arrested and faces federal charges of knowingly and intentionally possession with intent to distribute less than 110 pounds of a mixture or substance containing a detectable amount of marijuana, according to the complaint.
Arizona Governor Doug Ducey has ordered state building flags to remain at half mast until sunset Wednesday in honor of Garbo.
Garbo was the second federal officer to die in the line of duty in recent weeks.
Jared Keyworth, Deputy Marshal and Chief Inspector of the United States, died last month in a car crash while responding to a delinquent case near Florence, Mississippi, according to the attorney.
“We are grateful for the courage and selfless sacrifice of these heroes,” US Attorney General Merrick Garland said in a statement. “And I join with the entire Department of Justice in passing on our support and our deepest condolences to their families.”
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Just a day after Garland’s statement, a Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) agent was seriously injured in a shooting near Metro police headquarters on Tuesday. in Nashville, Tennessee, authorities said.
Louis Casiano and Associated Press contributed to this report
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