A deputy U.S. marshal was wounded by a ricochet bullet from an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an operation in South Los Angeles on Tuesday morning.
The incident happened when agents carrying out an immigration enforcement operation boxed in a suspect with their vehicle, according to Department of Homeland Security sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to comment publicly. Sources said the suspect then tried to ram them with their vehicle.
Officers had been conducting a targeted enforcement traffic stop of a person who had previously escaped from custody, Assistant Secretary of DHS Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement emailed to The Times. During the stop, she said, he “attempted to evade arrest yet again.”
“ICE law enforcement officers, assisted by U.S. Marshals, pulled the illegal alien over in a standard law enforcement procedure. The illegal alien weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee,” she said. “Fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement, our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots.”
The man they were after was shot in the elbow and a law enforcement officer was shot in the hand by a ricochet bullet, according to McLaughlin. Both are in the hospital.
People watch at the scene of where a deputy U.S. marshal was wounded in South Los Angeles.
(Ethan Swope/For The Times)
“These are the consequences of conduct and rhetoric by sanctuary politicians and activists who urge illegal aliens to resist arrest,” McLaughlin said. “Resisting arrest puts the safety of illegal aliens, law enforcement, and the public at risk.”
In a statement, the U.S. Marshal Service said their deputies were “attempting to assist in arrest of a suspect wanted for illegal entry” during an immigration enforcement operation. A deputy “sustained non-life threatening injuries” and is currently listed as stable, according to the agency.
The suspect was also wounded in the incident and hospitalized. Neither suffered life-threatening injuries, a source said.
Such boxing of vehicles using law enforcement vehicles are a common move to detain suspects in Southern California. But they have increasingly become a point of friction in the immigration crackdown.
Federal agents carrying out immigration enforcement are increasingly using vehicles to stop suspects and several agents have been rammed. In Chicago, a woman was shot at five times by a Border Patrol agent after she was accused of ramming their car. Her attorneys have argued that video footage shows that she rammed agents, not the other way around.
In San Bernardino, federal agents shot into a vehicle in August during an immigration stop, where they accused the occupants of ramming their vehicle and hitting agents. Charges were never filed and the case was dismissed.
Just outside of Santee Education Complex Tuesday, dozens of residents stood behind a yellow police tape that blocked entrance to East 20th Street between Maple Avenue and Trinity Street. In the distance, several vehicles were parked outside rows of apartment buildings.
At least one man walked around with a bullhorn, complaining about the Los Angeles Police Department assisting immigration authorities. At least one person driving by yelled out “F— the police.”
But almost everyone was not aware that a federal agent had been shot. Many heard rumors that a well known TikTok user had been shot.
Felipe Careces, a member of 721 SEIU and the rapid response network The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights, said he responded to the location after receiving calls shortly after 9 a.m. about federal immigration agents spotted outside the school. When he arrived he also heard rumors about a TikTok user being shot but did not know if it was true.
At one point, residents became angered and started cursing at an agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives walking to his vehicle.
“Get the f— out,” a woman yelled.
The incident occurred in the 400 block of East 20th Street during an immigration operation before 9 a.m.
According to the U.S. Marshal Service, the Office of Inspector General, Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are investigating this incident.
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