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A man found dead on the South Side Sunday morning was fatally shot by a U.S. Border Patrol agent after he and three other armed intruders burst into the agent's house, an official said Monday.

Christian Gomez, 20, and Mark A. Escobar Jr., 19, along with two other intruders burst into the home of an off-duty Border Patrol agent and his family about 4:50 a.m. Sunday, according to police.

One of the intruders shot at the agent when he confronted them. The agent returned fire with his service weapon, said Sgt. Fabian Pacheco, a Tucson Police Department spokesman.

"You can only imagine what that kind of experience would be like" with armed intruders bursting into a home and awakening a sleeping family, Pacheco said. "It's kind of reasonable to expect he would want to defend himself and his family."

The suspects fled the area in a Kia sport utility vehicle and the agent called 911, Pacheco said. Police did not release the name of the Border Patrol agent.

Several hours after the home invasion, Tucson police found a man's body in the desert south of East Irvington Road and South First Avenue. The man, identified later as Gomez, had been shot to death, Pacheco said.

Through investigation, detectives learned that Gomez, of Tucson, had participated in the home invasion and had been shot by the agent, Pacheco said.

Before finding Gomez's body, at 7:19 a.m., a Tucson police officer saw smoke near Campbell Avenue and East Virginia Street, according to police. When the officer went to investigate he found the Kia SUV engulfed in flames, Pacheco said. When the fire was extinguished, police found bullet holes in the vehicle.

Using information from the various scenes, investigators learned that Escobar had been involved in the home invasion and that he was the driver of the Kia SUV.

He was booked into Pima County jail on suspicion of first-degree murder under the felony murder rule, which allows suspects to be charged with murder if someone gets killed during the commission of a felony, Pacheco said.

Escobar, from Tucson, was also booked on suspicion of first-degree burglary, arson of an occupied structure, attempted armed robbery and attempted aggravated robbery, according to jail records. He is being held on $500,000 bail for the first-degree murder charge.

Detectives don't know exactly why the armed intruders burst into the Border Patrol agent's house, Pacheco said. It doesn't appear that his home was targeted for any specific reason, he said. Intruders will target homes with the goal of obtaining drugs or money, Pacheco said. Detectives are still working to determine what motivated the invasion, he said.

The Border Patrol is conducting its own investigation into the agent's use of deadly force, said Jesús Rodriguez, Border Patrol Tucson Sector spokesman.

"We want to make sure the use of force was handled properly," Rodriguez said. It's standard procedure for the Border Patrol to review any situation when an agent — on-duty or off-duty — discharges his weapon at a person, he said.

As for whether or not Border Patrol agents will be advised to take extra precautions as a result of the incident, Rodriguez said, agents — along with all law enforcement officers — need to take extra caution whenever they go about their daily lives.

The agent is a dog handler with a take-home vehicle, according to a posting about the incident on the Web site for the Border Patrol agents union. The Web site says any agent with a take-home vehicle or one who wears a uniform shirt should take extra care at home, as the suspects may have targeted the agent.

Rodriguez couldn't immediately confirm that the agent was a dog handler or if he had a take-home vehicle. He did not release the agent's name because of security and privacy issues.

Tucson Police Department homicide detectives will hand over the results of their investigation to the Pima County Attorney's Office, which will decide whether or not the agent will face criminal charges or if Escobar will face additional charges.

Police are continuing to look for any additional suspects involved in the home invasion, Pacheco said. Anyone with information about the incident is asked to call 911 or 88-CRIME, the anonymous tip line of the Pima County Attorney's Office.