Former Provo resident Nicholas J. Ivie killed patrolling U.S.-Mexico border

"Everybody loved him. He was very kind, always reaching out to other people, and a wonderful, wonderful dad," said Marlee Forsberg, who plays on the same soccer team as Christy Ivie in Sierra Vista, Ariz.

Forsberg's husband, Spencer, serves as bishop of the Sierra Vista 2nd Ward. She said her husband didn't know Ivie before calling him to serve in the bishopric because they came from different wards that were combined in August.

Marlee Forsberg said she visited with Christy Ivie on Tuesday morning.

"She's doing as good as you can be. She's very strong. She's always had a very strong testimony," she said.

Goates, the stake president, also spent time at the Ivie home Tuesday talking with Christy.

"She has a strong faith in the future and knows that her marriage will endure beyond the grave," Goates said.

The U.S. government has put thousands of sensors along the border that, when tripped, alert dispatchers that they should send agents to a particular location. The area near the shooting is scattered with houses, trailers and ranchettes. Mesquite trees and creosote bushes dotted the landscape, and a mountain range stands nearby to the west.

Tuesday's shooting occurred after an alarm was triggered on one of the many sensors along the border and three agents went to investigate, said Cochise County Sheriff's spokeswoman Carol Capas. It is not known whether the agents returned fire, Capas said.

The agents who were shot were on patrol with a third agent, who was not harmed, according to George McCubbin, president of the National Border Patrol Council, a union representing about 17,000 Border Patrol agents. The wounded agent was in surgery and expected to recover, McCubbin said.

Turgal wouldn't comment on whether the weapons used in Tuesday's shooting could be tied to Operation Fast and Furious. But Republican members of Congress who have been critical of the Justice Department issued statements that tried to link it to the government's botched gun-trafficking operation.

"There's no way to know at this point how the agent was killed, but because of Operation Fast and Furious, we'll wonder for years if the guns used in any killing along the border were part of an ill-advised gun-walking strategy sanctioned by the federal government," Sen. Charles E. Grassley, R-Iowa, said in a statement. "It's a sad commentary."

Utah Reps. Rob Bishop and Jason Chaffetz also issued statements expressing condolences to the Ivie family and calling for improved border safety.

"Today's shootings are a grim reminder that our lands along the border remain overrun with criminal activity from drug cartels and other smuggling operations," Bishop said.  "Now is the time that we must come together in a bipartisan way to make sure our borders are secure and safe."

Chaffetz said he expects a full and immediate investigation into the incident.

"As the facts come to light, we must take measures to ensure the safety and security of our Border Patrol and our residents in the region," he said.

Contributing: Associated Press

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