Off-duty Border Patrol agent arrested after shooting civilian multiple times
On November 8, 2014, an off-duty Border Patrol agent John Demery, 40, has been arrested on suspicion of fatally shooting a 27-year-old Adam Thomas in southwestern Riverside County, authorities said. Thomas had been shot by Demery multiple times at a Riverside County home in Hemet, about 75 miles (120 km) southeast of Los Angeles, California.
The off-duty Border Patrol agent, John Demery, reportedly confronted the victim. Shots were fired following an argument, according to the Sheriff's Department. Sheriff's deputies were dispatched to the East Hemet residence on what was initially reported as an assault call. Upon their arrival, deputies found the victim suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Adam Thomas was pronounced dead at a hospital.
Demery works at the Border Patrol's San Diego Sector Newton-Azrak Station in Murrieta. Border Patrol’s San Diego office and the internal affairs unit of the Department of Homeland Security’s Bureau of Customs and Border Protection (CBP) are cooperating with sheriff’s investigators in their probe. Demery has worked as a Border Patrol agent for six years. He has been suspended from his job as a Border Patrol agent with the Department of Homeland Security, as authorities investigate the shooting. The Riverside Sheriff’s Office is leading the investigation.
