A federal immigration agent fatally shot a man in Houston on Tuesday while officers attempted to stop his vehicle, according to a statement from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
ICE identified the man killed as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, describing him as a Mexican national and an “illegal alien” who tried to flee during what the agency called a “targeted enforcement operation.”
However, a man named Ronaldo Salgado, who told Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that he is the victim’s son, offered a different account. He said his father was in the area looking to hire workers at the time of the shooting.
ICE’s version of events states that Salgado “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer.” The agency said the confrontation led to “our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” striking the driver. Salgado was taken to a hospital, where he later died from his wounds.
Reuters was unable to independently confirm the man’s immigration status or the exact circumstances surrounding the shooting.
This incident comes amid a pattern over the past year in which initial statements from immigration enforcement agencies have been called into question by video recordings or other evidence, sometimes in legal proceedings.
In one notable case from October, a woman from the Chicago area named Marimar Martinez was accused of ramming law enforcement officers with her vehicle. She was shot five times but survived. The charges against her were eventually dropped, and video evidence raised questions about whether agents may have struck her vehicle themselves.
As of Tuesday, neither the FBI nor ICE’s parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, had responded to requests for comment on the Houston shooting.
