Sheriff: Man shot at U.S.-Canada border was wanted for murder

SUMAS — A man fatally shot on the U.S.-Canada border about 100 miles north of Seattle was apparently in the country illegally, a U.S. Customs and Border Protection official said Friday.

A preliminary investigation shows he was also wanted for a murder outside Whatcom County, where Thursday’s shooting occurred, Sheriff Bill Elfo said. He gave no details on the murder case.

The man was approached by two Border Patrol agents after setting off ground sensors on the border Thursday afternoon near the town of Sumas, said Dan Harris, chief Border Patrol agent for the Blaine sector.

The man was “suspected of having illegally crossed the border,” Harris said.

After displaying erratic and threatening behavior toward the agents and refusing to follow their orders, the man sprayed one of them with an incapacitating spray, Harris said.

An agent then shot and killed the man, later identified by the Whatcom County medical examiner as Jamison E. Childress, 20. No hometown was given.

The agent who was sprayed with the chemical required medical attention but was not seriously hurt, Harris said. The agency was trying to determine what type of spray was used.

“People cross the international border to bring crime and violence to our communities,” Elfo said.

A multiagency task force, including the sheriff, will investigate the shooting.

The two agents involved have 10 and 19 years of service, respectively, with the border agency. They were not identified Friday.