SAN DIEGO — Three Border Patrol agents opened fire during a confrontation with a driver they had chased along a rural highway in San Diego County Friday, killing the man, the agency said.

The shooting happened around 10:30 p.m. in the far East County town of Campo, outside a Circle K gas station off state Route 94. Border Patrol said an agent tried to stop the vehicle because it was suspected of being involved in a human smuggling operation, but the driver didn’t stop.

The chase ended when the driver of the silver sedan pulled in to the gas station off SR-94 at Buckman Springs Road, Border Patrol said.

“A confrontation ensued, resulting in three agents discharging their firearms,” the agency wrote in a news release, though no further explanation of what caused them to shoot was immediately provided. The driver was hit by the gunfire, which pierced the windshield, video from the scene showed.

The driver was taken to the hospital by ambulance but later pronounced dead. The two other men from the car were unharmed and found to be Mexican citizens, according to Border Patrol. They were taken into custody, but it was unclear if they faced specific charges.

The San Diego County Sheriff’s Homicide Unit will investigate the deadly shooting, as they do all shootings involving law enforcement in the county’s unincorporated areas.

FOX 5 has reached out to authorities for further details on why the vehicle was believed to be involved in human smuggling and what led up to agents shooting the man, but had not heard back as of Sunday morning.

Anyone with information about the incident was asked to call the Homicide Unit at 858-285-6330 or Crime Stoppers at 888-580-8477.