ICE officer shoots Dominican man during New York arrest, sparking protests

A federal immigration officer shot and wounded a Dominican man during an arrest in New York City on Thursday, in what the Department of Homeland Security described as a "targeted enforcement operation". The man survived and is being treated in hospital, while the agency said only that "during the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon" and that the man was injured.

The shooting drew sharp political reaction and protests, with critics calling it an example of the dangers of the Trump administration's immigration crackdown. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called it "unconscionable and incredibly serious", while New York Governor Kathy Hochul said the state wanted answers.

According to Mamdani and Hochul, they received reports that agents fired at the man while he was inside a vehicle with a five-year-old child, who was apparently not hurt. Mamdani said he intended to tell President Donald Trump to end all federal immigration enforcement actions in the city.

The gunfire broke out at about 4 pm in Marble Hill. Pedro Almaraz, who works at a nearby restaurant, said he heard three or four gunshots and then saw a man on the ground surrounded by several officers wearing face masks and vests bearing Department of Homeland Security branding. He said witnesses were screaming. Videos and photographs posted on social media showed a man sitting on the ground with his hands behind his back shortly after the shooting. Another video showed New York City police officers carrying an apparently injured man into a police vehicle. A damaged car with small holes in two windows was seen blocking the road nearby. The videos also showed agents at the scene wearing ICE badges, including one carrying a rifle.

At a tense press conference at the scene on Thursday night, several local politicians condemned the shooting. City Council member Carmen De La Rosa said, "We are heartbroken and enraged." Demonstrators chanted, "ICE off our streets now!" before marching to the hospital where the injured man was being treated. A large crowd blocked an intersection outside the hospital, and when police began putting up barricades to allow ambulances and other vehicles through, some protesters pushed the barriers and threw water bottles at officers. Police made some arrests.

DHS said its officers are "forced to make arrests at large in the community in unpredictable and dangerous environments" when "dangerous illegal aliens" are released, and blamed "reckless sanctuary policies" in Democratic-led areas. The agency described the man as a "criminal illegal alien" with a previous grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests, and said New York police had arrested him in December 2023 before releasing him.

The shooting also renewed scrutiny of ICE tactics. ICE agents have fired their weapons during more than a dozen vehicle stops since last year, killing at least four people and wounding others. In late September, ICE told its officers not to engage in high-speed car chases and to carry out vehicle stops only if they had completed specific training.

Marble Hill resident Alfred Silva, 38, said federal officers should identify themselves more clearly, adding that one officer 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." In a statement, Hochul said New Yorkers were outraged, immigrant communities were terrified and the state wanted answers. She said, "New Yorkers have witnessed far too many acts of violence by a rogue federal agency and untrained agents that operate with impunity." The shooting left a man in hospital, triggered protests and political condemnation, and raised fresh questions over federal immigration enforcement in the city.

With PTI Inputs

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