DHS defends ICE shooting in NYC, says officers believed they were in danger

What the report says

The US Department of Homeland Security is defending an Immigration and Customs Enforcement shooting in New York City after federal officers shot a man during an attempted arrest while his five-year-old child was in the car. Al Jazeera reported that the confrontation happened on Thursday afternoon, and that DHS officials said the man, identified by New York City police as Oscar Belgal, refused to leave the vehicle, then drove forward and hit two ICE vehicles before agents fired. DHS said the bullet grazed his neck and that officers did not know the child was inside the car when they shot.

At a Friday news conference, DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and other federal officials argued the officers believed they were in danger. They also linked the arrest attempt to an investigation involving suspected gang activity and a previous shooting of a US Customs and Border Protection officer. According to the report, officials said Belgal is an undocumented migrant from the Dominican Republic with a prior grand larceny conviction and an earlier evasion of arrest.

The shooting has intensified criticism of federal immigration enforcement in New York City. Al Jazeera said New York officials condemned the incident and called for ICE to end operations in the city. Mayor Zohran Mamdani also denounced the shooting, said he contacted President Donald Trump about stopping ICE enforcement, and argued the agency made the city less safe.

The incident triggered protests in the Bronx on Thursday night, with demonstrators calling for ICE to be abolished. Al Jazeera noted that the case comes amid broader scrutiny of ICE and DHS accounts in other recent use-of-force incidents, where video has sometimes challenged initial official descriptions.