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ICE agents shoot man in front of his five-year-old son in New York
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Officials have confirmed that a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot a man as he drove in a car with a child in New York City.
The man has been identified as Oscar Belgal, 28, and he was driving with a five-year-old boy, believed to be his son, in the vehicle.
Belgal survived the shooting and has been treated at a hospital.
As reported by Sky News, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) didn't describe what led to the shooting.
They stated that 'during the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon', with the man injured in the aftermath.
DHS further stated that they were looking to arrest the man as part of a 'targeted enforcement operation', but protesters and local authorities said it was another example of the threats posed by the Trump administration's immigration crackdown.
How the incident unfolded
According to Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, Belgal pulled into a parking space when a federal officer in plain clothes approached him with their gun drawn.
Another federal officer did the same, also out of uniform.
The man moved forward when at least one of the officers fired seven rounds, striking Belgal below his left ear.
Tisch further detailed at the press conference on Thursday (October 8) that the child was unharmed and with a relative, before highlighting that police weren't involved in the operation.
However, they responded after hearing shots.
A statement from the DHS claimed that they were looking to arrest a 'criminal illegal alien' who had a grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani speaks out against ICE
Speaking during the aftermath, Mamdani powerfully claimed: "There is no justification for what we have seen today."
"Early reports indicate agents surrounded (the man) and a five-year-old child in his car before firing multiple rounds," he added.
The Mayor of New York explained that the federal officers who surrounded the vehicle wore construction vests and masks, which made it harder to identify them as ICE officers.
He further added that he'd spent two hours pushing Donald Trump and Homeland Security secretary Markwayne Mullin to release Belgal.
Mamdani further urged ICE to halt operations in the city, adding that their agents removed the man from the hospital and took him away on Thursday.
Outrage from the public
Tisch revealed that while an NYPD security camera recorded some of the lead-up, it did not capture the shooting.
Gunfire sounded around 4 pm local time in Marble Hill, an area of Manhattan attached to the Bronx.
Democrat city council member Carmen De La Rosa, who represents areas including Marble Hill said they 'are heartbroken and enraged' at the situation at a heated news conference at the scene of the shooting.
Protesters could be heard chanting, 'ICE off our streets now', before marching to the hospital where Belgal was being treated, as clashes at the barricades ensued.
There were multiple arrests, while a damaged car blocking the roadway was seen with small holes in two windows, as Tisch explained that a bullet's entry point was on its front windshield, and its exit point was in a rear window.
Since 2025, ICE agents have fired their guns at over 12 vehicle stops, with at least four people paying with their lives, and several others left injured.