FBI arrests illegal immigrant gang members

Harvey Rice:

The FBI gang task force about noon today arrested a gang leader who fled after a confrontation in southeast Houston that left an agent with a gunshot wound, an FBI spokeswoman said.

Jose Jorge Brooks, 38, is believed to be the leader of a group of gang members who were confronted by the task force about midnight as they were attempting to rob people, FBI spokeswoman Shauna Dunlap said.

Details of the shooting remained under investigation this morning, but Dunlap said the agent was wounded during the confrontation outside a motel in the 8900 block of the Gulf Freeway.

The agent, whose name was not released, was listed in good condition and was expected to be released from a hospital in 48 hours, Dunlap said. She was unable to describe how the agent was shot, the nature of his wounds or how many shots were fired.

"The circumstances of how he was injured are part of the investigation," she said.

The agent is part of the FBI's Enhanced Multiagency Gang Task Force, which includes Houston police and members of the FBI Special Weapons and Tactics Team, Dunlap said.

Dunlap said immigration officials were trying to determine whether Brooks is a U.S. citizen.

Arrested at the motel were Nelson Javier Santos, 25; William Caesar Arcer, 43; Jose Guillen, 28; and Armando Buenaventu Argueta, 28, she said. The men are illegal immigrants, Dunlap said, but their native countries had not been confirmed.

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