PHOENIX — The family of a slain Border Patrol agent has sued federal officials over the botched “Fast and Furious” gun operation, claiming they should have known it created a risk to law enforcement authorities.
Agent Brian Terry was mortally wounded Dec. 14, 2010, in a firefight north of the Arizona-Mexico border between U.S. agents and five men who had sneaked into the country to rob marijuana smugglers.
The case was filed Thursday, one day short of the two-year anniversary of Terry’s death and a deadline for filing a wrongful-death claim in federal court.
Federal authorities who conducted “Fast and Furious” have faced tough criticism for allowing suspected straw gun buyers for a smuggling ring to walk away from gun shops in Arizona with weapons, rather than arrest them and seize the guns. A straw gun buyer is a person who buys a gun for someone who is unable or unwilling to buy the gun himself.
The lawsuit made publicly available Friday was filed by Terry’s parents against six managers and investigators for the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The family also sued a federal prosecutor who had previously handled the case but is no longer on it, and the owner of the gun store where two rifles found in the aftermath of the firefight were bought.
ATF spokesman Tom Mangan declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Front Section, Pages 3 on 12/15/2012