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A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fired seven shots at a car in New York City’s Marble Hill neighborhood Thursday, striking a 28-year-old man in the neck while a 5-year-old boy sat in the backseat, according to New York City officials.
The man, identified by NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch as Oscar Belgal, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries. The child was not injured and was later placed in the care of a family member, Tisch said.
The shooting occurred around 4 p.m. near West 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue during a federal immigration enforcement operation. The incident prompted protests, calls for an independent investigation and a late-night effort by Mayor Zohran Mamdani to negotiate with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for Belgal’s release.
Those negotiations were unsuccessful, Mamdani said.
The shooting is the latest confrontation involving federal immigration officers under the Trump administration, whose expanded enforcement operations have drawn scrutiny over the use of force and accountability.
What happened before the shooting
At a Thursday night news conference, Tisch said preliminary evidence showed that federal agents were attempting to take a man into immigration custody while he was inside a gray Honda CR-V with a 5-year-old boy believed to be his son.
NYPD surveillance footage captured the vehicle backing into a parking space in front of a fire hydrant, Tisch said. One plainclothes federal officer then approached the driver’s-side window with a gun drawn, while a second approached near the driver’s-side headlight.
According to Tisch, the vehicle subsequently moved forward and out of the camera’s view. At least one ICE agent fired seven rounds, striking Belgal in the neck below his left ear.
The surveillance footage did not capture the shooting itself, and the circumstances that led the agent to fire remain under investigation.
Tisch emphasized that the NYPD was not involved in the federal operation before the gunfire. City officers responded after receiving reports of shots fired and a person wounded.
When officers arrived, Tisch said, they encountered several men wearing different types of clothing, including construction-style vests and face masks. At least one person was carrying a long gun.
Belgal was handcuffed and seated on the ground, according to Tisch. NYPD officers placed him in a police vehicle, provided aid and transported him to a hospital.
DHS cites criminal history and alleged gang ties
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said agents were conducting a targeted operation to arrest a Dominican national whom the agency alleged was living in the United States illegally.
DHS also alleged that the man had associations with the Trinitarios gang.
Tisch said Belgal had two prior arrests in New York City. In 2023, he was arrested on a robbery charge and later pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny. He received five years of probation, according to the preliminary account presented by police.
He was arrested again in 2025 on a charge of criminal sale of a controlled substance. That case remains pending, Tisch said.
The allegations cited by DHS do not, by themselves, establish what happened immediately before the agent opened fire.
In a statement, DHS said an ICE officer discharged a weapon during the operation and that officers immediately provided medical assistance.
“The individual is alive and at a local hospital,” the department said, adding that the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations were at the scene and that the incident remained under investigation.
Mamdani’s negotiations with Trump fail
Mamdani condemned the shooting and said federal agents had removed Belgal from the hospital in an unmarked vehicle.
The mayor said he spent approximately two hours on the phone with Trump and Mullin Thursday night attempting to negotiate Belgal’s release. The effort did not succeed.
Mamdani argued that the federal operation had endangered public safety, particularly because a young child was inside the vehicle when shots were fired. He called for an end to ICE enforcement operations in New York City.
Democratic Rep. Adriano Espaillat, who represents New York, said that the child was Belgal’s son. Espaillat said he met with the boy and his mother at the hospital.
The congressman also said Belgal was being guarded by ICE agents outside his hospital room and that he was not permitted to see him.
Federal authorities assumed control of the shooting investigation, Tisch said. The extent of any continuing NYPD role in evidence collection or other investigative work was not immediately clear.
Ocasio-Cortez demands independent investigation
Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez called for a full and independent investigation and the release of all body-camera footage documenting the incident.
She also criticized Target, alleging that the retailer had made properties in the Bronx available as staging areas for ICE operations. Ocasio-Cortez called on the company to stop providing those locations for federal enforcement activity, arguing that the presence of armed officers in active retail parking lots could put surrounding communities at risk.
The NYPD said five people were taken into custody during protests following the shooting.
The investigation is expected to focus on the sequence of events before the gunfire, the officers’ actions, the vehicle’s movement and whether the use of deadly force complied with applicable policies.
A broader pattern of immigration enforcement shootings
The Marble Hill incident comes amid growing scrutiny of shootings involving federal immigration officers during Trump’s second administration.
A CBS News analysis cited at least 30 shootings involving Department of Homeland Security officers during the administration, some of them fatal. The incidents have raised questions about enforcement tactics, the use of force against people in vehicles and the degree of independent oversight when federal officers shoot civilians.
A separate Washington Post analysis published in July documented at least 17 motorists shot by federal immigration officers during the administration’s immigration operations by that point, including six deaths. The figures reflect different reporting periods and scopes of analysis.
Federal officials have defended enforcement operations as necessary to apprehend people they say are in the country unlawfully or have criminal records. Critics have questioned the tactics used during arrests and called for greater transparency when officers use force.
In the Marble Hill case, the central facts remain under investigation: why the officer fired, what the agents perceived as the vehicle moved, and whether the force used was justified.
For now, Belgal is recovering from his injuries, the child is with a family member, and federal authorities are leading the investigation. The incident has intensified an already contentious dispute between New York City officials and the Trump administration over the role and conduct of federal immigration officers in the city.
