The U.S. Border Patrol in Texas killed a Michigan man on Monday after opening fire on a federal building in McAllen, injuring at least two police officers and one border patrol employee.
Ludington resident Ryan Louis Mosqueda, 27, fired dozens of rounds at the entrance of a Border Patrol station shortly before 6 a.m. on Monday, prompting agents to return fire, McAllen Police Chief Victor Rodriguez said at a press conference attended by the Texas Tribune.
One McAllen police officer was shot in the knee during the exchange, while another officer and a border patrol agent sustained injuries, all from bullets that penetrated the building, he said.
“Incidents like these make us realize that we’re to always be on guard to keep our community safe,” he said. “There were many, many, dozens of rounds fired by the suspect towards the building and agents in the building.”
The incident occurred across the street from the McAllen International Airport, which police were forced to shut down for several hours.
Responding officers located additional firearms and ammunition in Mosqueda’s Chevrolet passenger car, which was parked outside of the border patrol facility, Rodriguez said.
The driver’s door of the vehicle was spray-painted with the words “Cordis DIE,” a Latin phrase that translates to “Heart Day” and is also a fictional revolutionary movement in the video game Call of Duty: Black Ops II, according to StratNews Global.
“What it means, or whether or not it is an underlying reason for him being here, I don’t know,” Rodriguez told reporters, according to AL.com.
Mosqueda was reported missing around 4 a.m. about 20 miles away in Weslaco, Texas, though WPBN confirmed he lives in Ludington, where he has had no prior contact with the Mason County Sheriff’s Department.
Mosqueda’s father, Jose Mosqueda, was stopped by police for a traffic infraction at 3:48 a.m. in Weslaco, where he told an officer his son had a “mental deficiency,” was not taking his medication, and was carrying firearms in his vehicle, Telemundo reports.
A former U.S. Customs and Border Protection official told StratNews the facility targeted by Mosqueda houses Border Patrol’s special operations teams.
The FBI is now conducting an investigation into whether others were involved in the attack, Mosqueda’s motive, and the events leading up to the deadly shooting, according to The Associated Press.
The incident comes amid the largest deportation effort in U.S. history, initiated as promised by President Donald Trump on the first day of his second term in January.
It also occurred just days after lawmakers approved Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which includes an additional $165 billion for the Department of Homeland Security over the next decade to supercharge that effort.
According to the Federal News Network, “The bill includes $4.1 billion for CBP to hire 5,000 customs officers and 3,000 border patrol agents over the next four years. It also includes $2 billion for annual retention or signing bonuses at CBP, as well as $600 million for recruiting, hiring and retention initiatives.
“As for ICE, the bill allocates $8 billion to hire 10,000 new officers through 2029. It also includes $858 million for ICE retention and signing bonuses and $600 million to support marketing, recruiting and onboarding programs,” Federal News Network further reported. “DHS says it is now offering ICE and Border Patrol agents $10,000 signing bonuses.”
Other funding to support immigration enforcement includes $45 billion for new immigration detention centers, $50 billion for the border wall, $813 million for Customs and Border Patrol vehicles, $700 million in IT improvements for Immigrations and Customs Enforcement, and $25 million for the Coast Guard.
