Federal immigration officers shot and wounded a man in the Bronx on Thursday while his five-year-old child sat in the back of the car. Homeland Security says he rammed two of its vehicles. New York’s mayor has condemned the shooting and called on Donald Trump to end immigration enforcement in the city.
The US Department of Homeland Security has defended the shooting of a man by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in New York City while his child was present, Al Jazeera reported.
New York officials have condemned the shooting and called for ICE to end its operations in the city.
The Federal Account
The shooting took place on Thursday afternoon, October 8, in the Bronx, as officers tried to arrest a man identified by New York police as Oscar Belgal.
At a news conference on Friday, Homeland Security officials gave this account:
- Belgal refused to leave his car when approached
- he accelerated and struck two ICE vehicles
- officers opened fire, grazing his neck
- his five-year-old child was in the back seat
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said the agents did not know the child was in the car when they fired.
Belgal was given first aid, taken to hospital and then moved to a detention facility outside New York state. Officials did not say where.
Why Agents Wanted Him
ICE official Marcos Charles said the arrest was part of an investigation into suspected gang involvement in an earlier shooting of a Customs and Border Protection officer.
According to US officials, Belgal is an undocumented migrant from the Dominican Republic who had previously evaded arrest and received a five-year sentence for grand larceny in April 2025.
“[Belgal] was a thug,” Mullin said. “The absolute worst of the worst.”
These are the government’s claims. They have not been tested in court.
The Footage Question
Mullin confirmed that the officers were wearing body cameras. That footage has not been released.
New York police have released body-camera video from their own officers, who arrived in response to an emergency call.
Al Jazeera noted that in earlier incidents involving federal immigration officers, including two fatal shootings in Minneapolis, video evidence contradicted the initial official accounts.
The Mayor’s Response
Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the shooting and said he had called President Trump to demand an end to ICE enforcement in the city.
“These actions are making the city less safe,” he said at the scene. “ICE is rotten to its core.”
Mullin accused the mayor of putting politics ahead of public safety. He said Trump had offered to transfer Belgal to New York police custody if the city pursued charges, and that Mamdani refused.
On the Streets
The shooting led to protests in the Bronx on Thursday night, with demonstrators calling for ICE to be abolished. Tensions rose after some clashed with New York police officers.
Federal officials used the incident to criticise “sanctuary city” policies, which limit local cooperation with immigration enforcement.
Image: Zohran Mamdani in 2024, before he became mayor of New York (file photo). Photo by Karamccurdy via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
