Tucson Region

Border home shot up by drug suspects

A Cochise County man who fired on a suspected smuggler crossing his property Wednesday morning near Douglas escaped unscathed an hour later when the vehicle apparently returned and its occupants shot up his house, officials said. A 24-foot travel trailer on the property about four miles east of Douglas, also was on fire when the unidentified homeowner escaped, said Carol Capas, a spokeswoman for the Cochise County Sheriff's Department. No one has been arrested. The homeowner, Richard Kozak, opened fire on the vehicle about 7:20 a.m. trying to scare it off because he was tired of his property being trekked across by suspected drug smugglers, said Russell Ahr, spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. "Apparently, they cross through and he has in the past taken shots at these guys," he said. The man fired three times, and the truck turned around and went back into Mexico, he said. The same vehicle apparently returned 40 minutes later and occupants opened fire on the man's home with an AK-47 rifle and 9 mm gun, he said.