Owing to a confrontation on Thursday in Marble Hill, Bronx, a plain‑clothes ICE agent fired seven rounds at 28‑year‑old Oscar Belgal, striking him in the neck while a five‑year‑old boy sat in the passenger seat. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the vehicle moved forward after agents approached, and that Belgal was rushed to New York‑Presbyterian Allen Hospital in stable condition.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani slammed the incident, saying, "I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities." He revealed he had called President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin for about two hours but received no release of the injured man.
Governor Kathy Hochul, Representative Ritchie Torres, and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer joined the chorus of outrage. Hochul urged the president and Mullin to halt ICE operations in the city, while Torres called the firing of multiple rounds into a car carrying a child "abhorrent and indefensible."
The Department of Homeland Security confirmed that an ICE officer discharged his weapon during the operation and that agents provided immediate medical assistance. DHS described Belgal as an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic with a prior conviction for grand larceny and multiple arrests, and alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang.
ICE has long been a point of contention in New York, with Mayor Mamdani calling for its abolition. The shooting has intensified pressure on the Trump administration to reassess its enforcement tactics in the city, and a federal investigation is expected to begin next week.