NEW YORK (AP) — A federal immigration agent shot and wounded a Dominican man while arresting him in New York City on Thursday, during what the Department of Homeland Security called a “targeted enforcement operation.” Protesters decried it as an example of the dangers of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
The man survived and is being treated at a hospital, the agency said. It did not describe exactly what led to the shooting, saying
only that “during the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon” and that the man was injured.
The agency described him as a “criminal illegal alien” with a prior grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests. New York police arrested him in December 2023, but he was released, the agency said, blaming “reckless sanctuary policies” in Democrat-led cities, such as New York.
The shooting ignited outrage among some New York elected officials, who rushed to the scene to condemn the shooting and call for a halt to federal immigration enforcement actions.
In a statement, Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the situation “unconscionable and incredibly serious." He said he had placed a call to President Donald Trump about it.
Demonstrators at the scene chanted, “ICE off our streets now!”
DHS complained that its officers “are forced to make arrests at large in the community in unpredictable and dangerous environments” when “dangerous illegal aliens" get released.
The shooting happened in the Marble Hill neighborhood, a small part of Manhattan attached to the Bronx.
Pedro Almaraz, an employee at a nearby restaurant, said he heard about three or four gunshots and saw a man on the ground surrounded by several officers wearing face masks and vests with Department of Homeland Security branding. Witnesses, he said, were screaming.
Videos and photos posted by bystanders on social media showed a man sitting on the ground with his hands behind his back, in the immediate aftermath of the shooting. Another video shows New York City police officers picking up an apparently injured man and carrying him into a police vehicle.
Nearby, a damaged car sat blocking the roadway with small holes in two of its windows.
The videos show agents wearing ICE badges on the scene, including one carrying a rifle.
Neighborhood resident Alfred Silva, 38, called for federal officers to more clearly identify themselves, saying one was wearing a construction safety vest and carrying a rifle.
“We need to have better transparency to understand who we’re dealing with, because anybody in the street can just put on a vest and pull out a gun and claim to be ICE,” he said.
“I feel like regardless if you’re left or right, we should understand that this shouldn’t be happening.”
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, a Democrat, said in a social media post that she had been briefed on the shooting.
“We expect federal authorities to provide a full and transparent accounting of the circumstances surrounding this incident. New Yorkers deserve to know exactly what happened and why,” she said.
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Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed.
