House Democrats say Pentagon shot down CPB drone over Texas
UPI

House Democrats say Pentagon shot down CPB drone over Texas

Darryl Coote | February 27, 2026

The Department of Defense shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone over El Paso, Texas, Democratic House lawmakers said Thursday.

Feb. 26 (UPI) -- The Department of Defense shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone over El Paso, Texas, Democratic House lawmakers said Thursday.

Little information about the shootdown has been made public. UPI has contacted the Pentagon, CBP and the Federal Aviation Administration for comment.

"Our heads are exploding over the news that DoD reportedly shot down a Customs and Border Protection drone using a high-risk counter-unmanned aircraft system," Reps. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., Andre Carson, D-Ind., and Bennie Thompson, D-Miss., said in a statement.

"We said MONTHS ago that the White House's decision to sidestep a bipartisan, tri-committee bill to appropriately train C-UAS operators and address the lack of coordination between the Pentagon, [Department of Homeland Security] and the FAA was a short-sighted idea.

"Now, we're seeing the result of its incompetence."

The statement was distributed by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, on which Larsen serves as the ranking member. Carson is ranking member of the Aviation Subcommittee and Thompson is ranking member of the House Homeland Security Committee.

This is a developing story.

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