A shooting involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer occurred Thursday afternoon in the Marble Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, resulting in a suspect being wounded but leaving a 5-year-old boy unharmed, officials reported.
The incident unfolded around 4 p.m. near Marble Hill Avenue and West 225th Street when an ICE agent fired multiple shots into the front windshield of the suspect’s SUV. Authorities stated that at the time, the vehicle contained a man in the driver’s seat and a child in the back.
ICE agents were allegedly attempting to detain a man linked to a shooting that injured an off-duty customs officer in Fort Washington Park in July 2025. Two Dominican nationals connected to that case had been sentenced in federal court earlier in the week, while state charges against others remain outstanding.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) confirmed that the targeted operation aimed to arrest a “criminal illegal alien from the Dominican Republic” with a history of convictions including grand larceny and multiple arrests for violent crimes and drug offenses. DHS noted that this individual had ties to the Trinitarios gang, which has been linked to the fatal shooting of a Customs and Border Protection officer last year.
Witnesses reported a scene of panic and chaos as gunfire erupted. “It was really quick. It was boom boom boom,” described a witness named Marcelo Desa, recalling how crowded the streets were with children and commuters at the time.
Several witnesses indicated that shots rang out as they were turning corners and described hearing about seven to eight loud shots. Video footage from the scene captured sirens and showed a man lying on the ground after being pulled from the vehicle. Witnesses also reported seeing what appeared to be a semi-automatic assault rifle.
After the shooting, DHS stated that ICE officers administered aid to the suspect, but video and eyewitness accounts suggested that New York Police Department (NYPD) officers were responsible for providing assistance and transporting him to a hospital, where he was reported to be conscious during treatment.
The shooting has triggered reactions from local lawmakers and immigration activists. Congressman Adriano Espaillat stated that he spoke with the family of the wounded man and confirmed that the child is in family custody. He expressed concern over ICE’s actions, noting that the agency prevented him from seeing the injured man in the hospital.
Following the shooting, hundreds of protesters gathered at a hospital in Inwood where the man is being treated. Lawmakers, including Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Governor Kathy Hochul, expressed strong condemnation of the incident. Mayor Mamdani stated that he will confront the president over ICE operations, demanding that they cease in New York. Gov. Hochul called for full transparency from federal agencies and urged that body camera footage of the incident be released.
The shooting has renewed debates surrounding ICE’s enforcement tactics, with critics highlighting the potential dangers posed to community safety. Murad Awawdeh, president and CEO of the New York Immigration Coalition, labeled ICE’s methods as a threat to New Yorkers, saying the incident illustrates the violence that may arise from unchecked operations.
ICE has been reported to have set an ambitious national target of conducting 3,000 arrests per day, a claim the Department of Homeland Security has denied.
