ICE shooting in New York leaves man wounded as child sits in car

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded 28-year-old Oscar Belgal during an attempted arrest Thursday afternoon in New York City’s Marble Hill neighborhood while Belgal’s five-year-old son was in the back seat of his car. The child was unharmed and later located with a family member, police said.

ICE official Marcos Charles said agents boxed in Belgal’s vehicle during a targeted operation and ordered him to get out. According to Charles, Belgal accelerated, struck two ICE vehicles and drove toward officers, prompting them to fire because they believed they and the public were in danger. Authorities said the number of officers who fired remains under investigation. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said agents did not know the child was in the car and that their body cameras were recording.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani said early reports indicated agents surrounded the car before firing multiple rounds. He also questioned whether agents, some wearing masks and construction-style vests, were readily identifiable as ICE personnel and called for federal immigration operations in the city to end.

Belgal survived and was taken to a hospital before being transferred to federal detention. ICE described his neck injury as superficial, while one of his lawyers told a judge Friday that a bullet remained in his body. Federal officials said Belgal, a Dominican national, had a prior grand-larceny conviction and other arrests. DHS also alleged gang associations, but did not publicly provide evidence for that claim.

The shooting prompted protests and demands from local and state officials for an investigation.