A U.S. Border Patrol agent is dead in California after being struck by one of two vehicles fleeing toward the U.S.-Mexico border during a pursuit by law enforcement today.

The officer, whose name has not yet been released, was laying spike strips across the road in the Imperial Sand Dunes recreation in the southeast portion of the state at about 9:30 a.m. when he was hit by a Hummer believed to have been driven by smugglers.

The Hummer and a Black Ford F-150 pickup truck escaped into Mexico, Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Jeremy Schappell told the Yuma Sun. It is unknown whether the vehicles were carrying drugs or human contraband.

"Right now our Mexican liaison unit has contact with the Mexican authorities ... try and track these individuals down," Schappell said.

Witnesses said the two vehicles were being pursued on I-8 between Calexico, Calif., and Yuma, Ariz., when the drivers left the interstate and turned into the dunes, fleeing toward the nearby border.

"It was at the entrance to the Buttercup Recreation Area, where the duners usually park," Schappell said.

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Because of the proximity of interstate and the dune recreational area to the border, the area is popular with smugglers, he said.

"It actually happens quite frequently out here. What they try to do is, they hope to blend in with the usual dune traffic to increase their chances of going undetected," Schappell said.

Today's death is the first for an agent in the Yuma sector in over four years, Schappell said.

"It's not easy. No law enforcement agency wants to lose one of their own. What we're focusing on now is making sure the agents at the scene are taken care of, mentally. Our primary focus is on the family, helping them cope and deal with their loss."

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