A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent has shot a man in his car in the Bronx in New York City while the man’s five-year-old son sat in the backseat.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which runs ICE, confirmed an officer discharged his weapon while attempting to arrest a “criminal illegal alien” on Thursday.
The man, later identified as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, was alive and at a local hospital, officials said.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the ICE officer fired “multiple rounds” into the car with a child inside, calling it an “unconscionable and incredibly serious situation”. The BBC has contacted DHS for comment about Mamdani’s remarks.
Late on Thursday evening, New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had spoken to US President Donald Trump about the shooting and had expressed “outrage on behalf of New Yorkers”.
“I also asked that any body camera footage of the shooting be released to the public so we can establish the facts and get to the truth.”
Trump has not yet commented publicly on the shooting.
The DHS said Belgal was from the Dominican Republic and had “a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs and weapons possession”.
He was arrested by police officers in New York in December 2023 and released “a few days later”, according to the DHS statement.
It also claimed Belgal was associated with the Trinitarios, described by the US justice department as a transnational criminal group.
Mamdani, meanwhile, said he would ask Trump to end ICE enforcement actions in the city.
“I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorise our communities,” he wrote on X on Thursday evening.
New York, which is a Democratic stronghold, is one of several US cities that bars its police officers from assisting federal immigration enforcement.
A group of protesters gathered at the scene on Thursday evening, chanting “we want justice” and “ICE off our streets now”.
There have been several high-profile shootings involving ICE officers this year, including one that caused the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis in January.
By BBC News
Email your news TIPS to Editor@Kahawatungu.com — this is our only official communication channel
