A man from the Dominican Republic was shot and wounded by federal immigration agents during a targeted enforcement operation in the Bronx on Thursday, according to officials, marking the first shooting involving ICE agents in New York City since President Donald Trump\u2019s immigration crackdown.<\/p>\n
The shooting occurred just after 4 p.m. in the Marble Hill neighborhood when an ICE agent discharged a weapon into the man\u2019s vehicle, which also had a 5-year-old sitting in the back seat, New York City officials said late Thursday.<\/p>\n
The man\u2019s injuries, including a graze wound to the neck, were not considered life-threatening, and police transported him to the hospital. The 5-year-old was not injured, as reported.<\/p>\n
\u201cThank God that child is physically unharmed,\u201d New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters late Thursday, expressing outrage over the shooting.<\/p>\n
The man wounded was identified as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal and the 5-year-old is believed to be his son, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said in the news conference. The child was located safe and is in the care of family members, she said.<\/p>\n
Mamdani said he had spoken to Trump and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to negotiate the man\u2019s release, but \u201cthose negotiations were unsuccessful,\u201d and the man has been taken from the NYPD into ICE custody.<\/p>\n
\u201cI made clear to the president, to the secretary, our request that ICE agents leave the scene entirely, as well as the demand that ICE stop its enforcement actions in New York City. These actions are making the city less safe, they are making the city terrified,\u201d Mamdani said.<\/p>\n
Federal authorities have not explained what led up to the shooting of the 28-year-old.<\/p>\n
DHS said the man has ties to the Trinitarios gang, a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny and prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession.<\/p>\n
Tisch said Belgal had two prior arrests in New York City, including for robbery in 2023, in which he pleaded guilty to fourth degree grand larceny and received five years probation, and for the criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025, which is still pending.<\/p>\n
DHS said agents immediately provided aid after the man was shot.<\/p>\n
Two agents were also injured in the encounter, according to a law enforcement source, and are also being treated at a local hospital. One of the agents may have been injured in a car accident, though it\u2019s unclear if the accident was part of the attempted arrest or response, according to a federal official.<\/p>\n
Speaking Thursday, Mamdani said ICE agents surrounded the man\u2019s vehicle. \u201cThey wore construction vests and masks that concealed their faces. There was no reasonable way to identify them as ICE agents,\u201d he told reporters.<\/p>\n
According to Tisch, citing NYPD camera video of the incident, the man was backing into a parking spot when \u201cone plainclothes federal law enforcement officer approaches the driver\u2019s side window with his gun drawn. Another plainclothes officer also approaches the vehicle by the driver\u2019s side headlight. The vehicle then starts to move forward and goes out of camera view,\u201d adding the camera did not capture the gun being discharged.<\/p>\n
\u201cBased on evidence collected at the scene, we know that at least one ICE agent discharged 7 rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear,\u201d Tisch said.<\/p>\n
NYPD officers responded and encountered several men in construction-style attire, face masks and at least one carrying a gun, she said, and the injured man handcuffed and seated on the ground. The man was placed in a NYPD vehicle and taken to a hospital, he said.<\/p>\n
At the time of the shooting, witnesses reported to police they saw a man dressed in a bright yellow construction vest holding a gun. Witnesses also told officers they heard five to six gunshots and people screaming, according to police officials.<\/p>\n