Cold War spy movies oftentimes have American/British intelligence agents engaging in lethal gunfights with Soviet agents, despite the fact that their respective governments were never officially at war.
But does this have basis in reality? While it makes for entertaining film and television, it seems that murdering spies working for another government that your country isn't at war with is bound to set off a crazy international incident.
I tried Googling this, but it's surprisingly hard to find info about.
Hi there!
To put it shortly, no the stuff you see in movies does not have a basis in reality. In general, intelligence officers do not carry guns, and they're certainly not interested in engaging in any kind of combat that draws unwanted attention and publicity.
Whether it has absolutely never happened is a bit difficult to say, because that would require me to have insight in all intelligence operations that have ever been executed. Especially Western intelligence officers are likely not to even know how to handle a firearm. During the Cold War, intelligence officers were above all bureaucrats sweating in their cramped offices or in embassies abroad, surrounded by large amounts of paper work and administrative proceedures.
A similar question to yours was asked here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/ds0j4i/in_us_spy_movies_a_common_plot_involves_an
Hopefully this answers your question!