A man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Thursday afternoon during an enforcement operation in the Marble Hill neighborhood of Upper Manhattan, with a 5-year-old child seated in the back seat of the vehicle at the time of the shooting.
Law enforcement sources identified the man as Oscar Belgal, a Dominican Republic national whom federal officials allege has ties to the Trinitarios street gang. Belgal was struck below his left ear and is expected to survive. The child was unharmed and placed in the custody of relatives.
Accounts of what led to the shooting differ sharply between federal and city officials. The Department of Homeland Security claims Belgal rammed ICE vehicles as agents attempted to box in his car and make an arrest. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters at a news conference near the scene that Belgal was pulling into a parking space when two plainclothes federal officers approached with weapons drawn and at least one officer fired seven rounds as the car moved forward.
ICE said Belgal has prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons charges and a conviction for grand larceny. The agency also noted he had been arrested by the NYPD in December 2023 but was released shortly afterward under the city’s sanctuary policies.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued a sharp condemnation of the shooting and announced he had called President Trump to demand an end to ICE enforcement operations within the city. “This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation” the mayor said. DHS fired back by blaming sanctuary policies for forcing agents to carry out arrests in unpredictable public settings.
Eyewitness Iris Rosa said she heard the gunfire as children were walking home from school. She said she approached Belgal on the ground and he told her he had been shot in the neck while his child was in the car.
Dozens of protesters gathered outside Columbia Presbyterian Allen Hospital where Belgal was being treated to demonstrate against the shooting and ICE’s enforcement tactics.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are both on scene and the incident remains under active investigation. The NYPD said its officers were present solely for crowd control and were not involved in the operation itself.
The shooting follows a January incident in Minneapolis where a woman named Renee Good was killed when an ICE officer opened fire as she drove forward during an enforcement action triggering widespread national protests over federal immigration tactics.