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The Department of Homeland Security reported that the shooting took place around 4 p.m. during a targeted enforcement operation to arrest Belgal whom the agency described as illegally present in the United States with a criminal record. New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in a Thursday evening news conference that at least one ICE agent discharged seven rounds striking the man in the neck below his left ear though the injuries were not considered life-threatening. The five-year-old child was physically unharmed and was later located with a family member following a wellness check according to Tisch.
Belgal maintained a prior conviction for fourth-degree grand larceny in 2023 that resulted in five years of probation as well as a pending 2025 case for the criminal sale of a controlled substance the commissioner reported. According to the Department of Homeland Security the man also faced multiple prior arrests for assault robbery drug possession and weapons charges while maintaining associations with the Trinitarios a transnational criminal group identified as such by the US Justice Department. ICE officers rendered immediate aid at the scene before Belgal was transported conscious to a local hospital where he remained alive federal officials stated.
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the incident an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation in a statement issued late Thursday. “Early reports indicate agents surrounded him and a five-year-old child in his car before firing multiple rounds. We believe the child was physically unharmed” Mamdani said. The mayor who contacted President Donald Trump over the matter added that he would ask the president to end ICE enforcement actions in the city.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers after her own conversation with Trump and requested that any body camera footage of the shooting be released to the public so we can establish the facts and get to the truth her office stated late Thursday. Reuters reported that federal immigration agents have shot at least 21 people since President Trump returned to office with seven of those incidents proving fatal a development that has sparked protests across the country. The New York City event marked the first shooting involving ICE agents in the city amid the administration’s renewed immigration enforcement push according to multiple law enforcement sources.
A member of Congress who arrived at the scene confirmed the child’s presence in the vehicle to The Intercept which also reported that one ICE agent appeared to have been posing as a construction worker in the residential area a tactic the outlet said the agency routinely employs during stakeouts. One neighbor described hearing three or four gunshots and seeing officers wearing face masks and Department of Homeland Security vests surrounding a man on the ground the Boston Globe reported from the scene. Video footage distributed by outlets including CBS New York showed numerous law enforcement personnel and FBI agents searching the grey Honda involved in the incident.
The New York Police Department emphasized that its officers had no involvement in the shooting or the preceding federal operation though the department responded to the location along with agents from the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations. The full circumstances that led to the discharge of the weapon continue to be examined by federal authorities according to statements from both DHS and city officials. Tisch noted that NYPD cameras did not capture the actual shooting but evidence collected at the scene supported the account of multiple rounds fired by at least one ICE agent.
