A federal immigration officer shot and wounded a man during an enforcement operation Thursday afternoon in the Marble Hill section of New York City, local officials and federal authorities confirmed.
The gunfire occurred around 4 p.m. near West 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue. The New York Police Department stated that its officers were not involved in the shooting and were not present when it happened. According to the department, the wounded individual was transported to a local hospital, remained conscious and sustained injuries that were not considered life-threatening.
Dispute over the operation
In a public statement, the Department of Homeland Security said personnel from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement were conducting a targeted operation to take an undocumented man from the Dominican Republic into custody. DHS said an agent discharged a firearm during the encounter, wounding the man, after which officers immediately provided first aid.
Federal officials said the targeted individual had a prior criminal history, citing convictions for weapons possession, robbery, grand larceny and drug possession, along with a past arrest for assault. DHS noted that the individual had previously been arrested by the NYPD in December 2023 and released shortly afterward.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani offered a sharp critique of the federal action. In statements posted to social media, Mamdani said preliminary accounts showed agents had surrounded the man alongside a 5-year-old child in the vehicle before shooting multiple times. Mamdani reported that the young child was not physically harmed.
“This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation,” Mamdani said. “I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city.”
The mayor additionally demanded that federal immigration agents leave city streets and hospitals, calling for the agency to be abolished.
Officials call for transparency
State and city leaders pressed the federal government for immediate answers regarding the circumstances that led to the shooting. New York Gov. Kathy Hochul said state officials had received a briefing and demanded an open investigation.
“We expect federal authorities to provide a full and transparent accounting of the circumstances surrounding this incident,” Hochul said. “New Yorkers deserve to know exactly what happened and why.”
New York City Council Speaker Julie Menin also expressed alarm, writing on social media that federal officials must promptly provide an explanation and noting the anxiety that enforcement operations create across local immigrant communities.
Demonstrators gathered in Marble Hill shortly after the gunfire, carrying signs denouncing ICE actions as police set up protective barricades near the hospital where the injured man was admitted. Bystander videos showed a sport utility vehicle at the scene bearing bullet holes in its windshield, alongside heavily armed agents.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement practices. According to an analysis by CBS News, Homeland Security personnel have been involved in at least 30 shootings during the second Trump administration, several of which resulted in deaths.
Federal authorities have not publicly identified the wounded man. An Evidence Response Team from the FBI has joined Homeland Security Investigations to examine the scene, and officials have not announced when formal findings will be released.
