Migrant shot by ICE in NYC while in car with son, 5, had tried to use his SUV as a battering ram, White House claims as DHS boss calls child a ‘collateral criminal’

A 28-year-old Dominican man shot in the neck by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in New York City on Thursday ‘weaponized his vehicle’ against officers before bullets were fired, according to government officials. 

Marcos Charles, a top ICE official, told a press conference Friday that Oscar Belgal  ‘accelerated his vehicle’ towards agents in the Marble Hill neighborhood of the Bronx.

‘He accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our government ICE vehicles and then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate going towards other officers,’ Charles said as he defended the shooting. 

Charles added that ICE officers feared for their safety and that of the public, and ‘used their training’ to respond with gunfire. 

Belgal was in a car with his five-year-old son at the time. He survived a bullet wound to the neck and was treated in hospital before being taken to an ICE facility in another state, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). 

US Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin told the Friday press conference that Belgal had previously ‘fled’ law enforcement in September. 

Mullin said that since Belgal was in the country illegally with his son, the government considers his five-year-old child to be a ‘collateral criminal’ in the ICE operation. The boy was unharmed in the shooting, and is currently in the care of relatives. 

The DHS previously said that Belgal was being detained as a ‘criminal illegal alien’ with a grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting an outrage. ‘There is no justification for what we have seen today,’ he said on Thursday evening. 

Mamdani added that federal officers who surrounded the vehicle wore construction vests and masks, making it difficult to identify them as immigration officers.

Mullin told the conference on Friday that Belgal was wanted by law enforcement and ‘knew his day was coming’. 

‘He fled once before in September. He knew he was wanted. He knows officers aren’t gonna give up on him,’ Mullin said. ‘This individual is a threat to our community.’

Mullin added that ICE agents were not aware that there was a child in the car when they opened fire. 

‘As a father of six, i would never endanger my kids,’ Mullin said. ‘I would die to protect my family. We weren’t aware that a child was in the car, I can tell you that. 

‘But you know who was? Oscar. Oscar knew he had a child in the car and he chose to accelerate the car at a high speed and ram two vehicles are it appears to be going towards officers. 

‘So the public outcry should also be toward this criminal… the outrage should be with him endangering this five-year-old. The focus on what took place is absurd.’

This is a breaking news story with updates to follow.