ICE agents shoot man in NYC car with child in back seat — officials defend action
US immigration officials have defended ICE officers who shot and wounded Oscar Belgal in New York while his five-year-old son was in the car. A federal judge has since blocked his deportation.
ICE shoots man in New York car with five-year-old in back seat
US immigration officials have defended the officers who shot and wounded a man in his car in New York City on Thursday, bbc.com reports, after the incident — carried out while the man's five-year-old son sat in the back seat — drew sharp condemnation from local politicians.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officers opened fire while attempting to arrest Oscar Belgal, 28, a man with a prior criminal history. "We weren't aware the child was in the car," Mullin said, arguing it was Belgal himself who had placed his child in danger.
Belgal is currently held at a detention facility. His lawyers appeared at a court hearing on his behalf on Friday, where attorney Paige Austin told the judge that Belgal "still has a bullet in his body" and had been transferred to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being discharged from hospital. Austin added that he had only been able to make a brief phone call in the hour before the hearing.
"The first thing he asked me, is whether his son is OK," said his other attorney, Harold Solis, speaking outside the courthouse. A small group of friends and relatives — including a cousin and an aunt — attended the hearing but did not speak to the press.
The BBC was not able to independently confirm Belgal's medical condition and said it had contacted DHS and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for comment.
How the shooting unfolded
The shooting took place in the residential neighbourhood of Marble Hill. Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official, said agents used their vehicles in an attempt to stop Belgal's car, but that Belgal resisted orders to exit and instead accelerated, striking two ICE vehicles.
Charles said Belgal then "weaponised his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate going towards other officers", adding that agents "using their training, and believing that their life and the life of their partners in the general public were in danger, used their training and fired weapons." Charles confirmed Belgal "was struck by one of the bullets or fragments superficially in the neck." The number of officers who discharged their weapons is under investigation.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who called the incident "unconscionable and incredibly serious", said ICE agents had surrounded Belgal's car before opening fire. "They wore construction vests and masks that concealed their faces. There is no reasonable way to identify them as ICE agents," Mamdani said. He confirmed the child was unharmed.
Mullin disputed this account, saying the officers identified themselves and were wearing body-worn cameras that were activated during the incident. Unverified videos circulating on social media appear to support Mamdani's characterisation, though no official body camera footage of the shooting itself has been released.
Body-worn camera footage released by the New York Police Department (NYPD) on Friday shows its officers arriving at the scene and assisting Belgal after he had been shot. One ICE officer is visible wearing a neon construction vest and carrying a large weapon. NYPD officers called for an ambulance and transported Belgal to hospital in a police car.
Belgal's background and the political fallout
The DHS said Belgal, a Dominican Republic national, 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 New York police in December 2023 and released "a few days later", according to DHS. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said a further case against Belgal for criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025 remained pending.
DHS has also alleged Belgal had ties to the Trinitarios, described by the US Justice Department as a transnational criminal group. Mullin said DHS believed Belgal "has either indirect or direct knowledge" of a US Customs and Border Protection officer shooting, adding: "and that's why he became a target."
Mamdani said he had spoken to President Donald Trump and Mullin for two hours on Thursday but had failed to secure Belgal's release. He said he would ask Trump — who had not yet commented publicly on the shooting — to halt ICE enforcement actions in New York. Mullin said he would not pause enforcement operations.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul also criticised the federal response, calling for rapid answers. "New Yorkers have witnessed far too many acts of violence by a rogue federal agency and untrained agents that operate with impunity," Hochul said, noting she had spoken separately to both Mullin and Trump.
A federal judge subsequently blocked Belgal's deportation following the court hearing on Friday.
The New York incident is one of several high-profile shootings involving ICE officers this year. In January, an operation in Minneapolis resulted in the death of Renee Good.
Source: Google News MT