PEACE ARCH (NEWS1130) – News1130 has learned shocking new details about the border guard who was shot by a man who then took his own life at the Peace Arch crossing yesterday.

“Apparently, [he] put the gun towards his head and shot himself in the head; the bullet went through his head and also hit the throat of one of our officers,” explains Jean-Pierre Fortin with the Customs and Immigration Union.

Police have not yet confirmed this information.

The guard, a woman in her late 20s from Ontario, is in hospital in stable condition. Homicide investigators are now handling the case.

When it comes to other border guards, Fortin tells us, “They’re shocked; they’re sad. Nevertheless, border services officers know the level of danger they’re facing on a regular basis… We know our members are facing, on a daily basis, a certain level of danger when they’re exercising their duties.”

“If I’m comparing the job of a border services officer versus a police officer — and nevertheless, I certainly recognize the level of danger police officers [face] — when you’re having cars pull into your office, you never know the level of danger that you will be facing,” he says.

“When a police officer [pulls over] a car on the road, they’re always protecting themselves. For us, it’s more unpredictable; you never know what you’re going to be faced with,” he adds.

The gunman was driving a white van with Washington State licence plates.

Meanwhile, the Peace Arch crossing is closed until further notice; expect delays at the Truck Crossing.

For up to the minute traffic updates, you can follow us on Twitter @News1130Traffic or subscribe to breaking news alerts sent directly to your inbox. You can also listen live to traffic reports every ten minutes on the ones.

Incident won’t speed arming of border guards

No matter what the circumstances of yesterday’s shooting, the federal public safety minister will not speed up the arming of Canada’s border guards.

Vic Toews says there is a lot of training involved before an agent is allowed to carry a weapon, and thousands of guards across the country need it.

“It’s always important to move as quickly possible,” says Toews. “But I want to ensure that officers who do carry firearms are appropriately trained.”

He adds the training is not a simple matter of teaching a guard how to handle the weapon itself, but “the steps before lethal force is in fact used.”

The federal government announced plans to arm the nation’s border guards back in 2006. Currently, about a thousand guards a year get that training.

The goal is to have all guards trained and armed by sometime in 2016.