Update: Two Customs Agents Shot in Long Beach

Update: Friday, 6 p.m. Long Beach Police clarify arrival time at yesterday's ICE shootings as 5:44 p.m., within two minutes of the 9-1-1 call of shots fired inside the federal building. ICE says the shootings occurred at about 5:30 p.m.

Update: Agency director will be speaking in Long Beach at 4 p.m.

Updated 10:55 p.m.

A federal agent shot a fellow agent in the downtown Long Beach federal building office before a bystander agent fatally shot the alleged attacker, in what the FBI called  "'workplace violence" Thursday night.

None of the three agents will be identified right now as family notification had not yet been made, and 100 F.B.I. investigators and staff combed the Ocean Boulevard office for evidence, said Steven Martinez, assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles office.

At a news conference late Thursday, Martinez and other agencies made statements about the incident.

They said the gunfire occurred in the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office, after the first agent shot the second in their work area. The second agent remains hospitalized in seriouis but stable condition, Martinez said. The third agent shot and killed the first agent to protect the wounded victim, Martinez said.

What dispute might have led the Customs agent to shoot the other was not disclosed. ICE is a branch of The Department of Homeland Security with agents that investigate immigration crimes, smuggling and other criminal activities.

But the Los Angeles Times, quoting unnamed law enforcement sources, reported that an agent had shot his supervisor multiple times, and then a coworker shot the gunman, who died at the office.

The early hours after the gunfire saw conflicting information released or reported by media that quoted unnamed sources. Initially it was reported that three agents were shot and two killed. Other media quoted so-called witnesses saying that the gunfire involved at least one Long Beach officer, which was never confirmed.The first sign of the victim count being wrong was the ICE spokeswoman at 8 p.m. confirming only one death.

Martinez said the investigation is in early stages and would proceed throughout the night. Teaming with the FBI are Homeland Security Investigations' Office of Professional Responsibility, and the Long Beach Police Department.

Long Beach Deputy Police Chief Robert Luna introduced the news conference, and said a 9-1-1 call was received at 5:54 p.m. reporting shots fired inside the federal building. Luna said first responders arrived in two minutes. He expressed condolences to the families of the agents involved, as did Martinez.

The wounded agent suffered multiple gunshot wounds, said Claude Arnold, special agent in charge for ICE/Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles.

``When something like this happens, it's incomprehensible,'' Arnold said. 

Earlier stories

Update 9:15 p.m.: There seems to be conflicting reports on the number of agents involved, and Customs spokeswoman Virginia Tice has said two agents total were involved, and subsequently three are mentioned. What seems agreed upon is that the instigating shooter is dead, although it is not announced yet whether the shooter killed himself or was shot down by someone else. We will update you as we can.

Two Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents were killed in a shooting today at the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building in downtown Long Beach that left a third agent wounded, according to reports.

The Press Telegram is reporting that the shooter is one of the two dead agents, quoting an unnamed Long Beach Fire Department source. It reported that there were a battery of Long Beach Police Department cars and that traffic was blocked on Ocean Boulevard, which is the route to onboard the northbound 710 (Long Beach) Freeway. It was redirected up Chestnut Avenue.

The shooting was reported about 6 p.m. at the building in the 500 block of West Ocean Boulevard, which which is adjacent to the World Trade Center. The federal building has the Customs office and the Internal Revenue Service, among other agencies.

The condition of the surviving agent was not immediately available, although it appeared he had been wounded in the upper body, KABC-TV reported. The station did not immediately state the source of the information.

The ambulance that took the wounded agent to St. Mary Medical Center had a police escort, according to KABC. Police and firefighters were not immediately available to explain the circumstances of the shooting, which is believed to have taken place on the seventh floor of the large building. FBI agents are heading to the shooting scene, according to Laura Eimiller of the FBI.

A Security sweep of the rest of the building was also reportedly conducted, CNS reported.

--with City News Service and KABC-TV reporting.