ICE Agent Shoots Man in Bronx Car With 5-Year-Old Present, Sparking Protests and Mayor’s Demand to Halt Enforcement

NEW YORK, Oct. 9 (TodayViralUSA) — A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a man Thursday afternoon in New York City’s Marble Hill neighborhood while a five-year-old child was inside the car, according to city officials, the Department of Homeland Security and eyewitness accounts, igniting evening protests and a direct confrontation between Mayor Zohran Mamdani and the Trump administration’s immigration agenda.

DHS said ICE officers were carrying out a “targeted enforcement operation” in the Bronx around 4 p.m. Eastern time to arrest a man from the Dominican Republic who had a prior criminal conviction. “During the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured,” the department said, adding that officers rendered immediate aid and that the man was alive at a local hospital.

Mamdani described the episode as “an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation.” Early reports, he said, indicated that agents had surrounded the man and a five-year-old child in the car before firing multiple rounds. The mayor said the child was believed to have been physically unharmed.

Mayor demands end to ICE operations in the city

Mamdani said he planned to speak with President Donald Trump and “demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city.” On social media Thursday evening he wrote that he would “not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.”

New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had spoken with Trump about the shooting and expressed “outrage on behalf of New Yorkers.” She also asked that any body-camera footage be released so the public could “establish the facts and get to the truth.” Trump had not publicly commented on the incident as of early Friday.

DHS said the man — whom federal officials did not name — had a prior conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession. The department also said he was associated with the Trinitarios, which the Justice Department has described as a transnational criminal group. City police sources identified him as Oscar Belgal, according to reporting by Al Jazeera.

Protests and a widening enforcement debate

Demonstrators gathered at the scene Thursday evening, chanting for justice and for ICE to leave New York streets. A restaurant worker nearby told Reuters he heard shots, saw several ICE vehicles, and watched as the wounded man was removed only after an ambulance arrived.

Federal immigration agents have shot at least 21 people since Trump returned to office, seven fatally, according to tallies cited in national coverage. Critics argue that an aggressive deportation push has produced more violent encounters; the administration has framed such operations as necessary to remove people with criminal records.

New York is among U.S. cities that limit local police cooperation with federal immigration enforcement, a stance that has become a flashpoint ahead of the November midterm elections.