Border Patrol Helicopter Hit by Gunfire

Border Patrol Helicopter
(Near Laredo, Texas)

A U.S. Customs and Border Protection helicopter was forced to make an emergency landing near the Mexican border after it was hit several times by gunfire, the FBI said on Saturday.

The helicopter was on an operational mission along the Rio Grande near Laredo, Texas, when shots from the ground struck it late Friday afternoon, Special Agent Michelle Lee said.

"The rounds penetrated and damaged the aircraft, forcing the pilot to make an emergency landing," Lee told Reuters. The pilot was not injured and no one on the ground was affected by the emergency landing, she said.

It is unknown whether the gunfire came from the U.S. or the Mexican side of the border.