.jpeg?trim=0,4,0,4&width=1200&height=800&crop=1200:800 "ICE agents shoot man in California who tried to ram them with vehicle – UK Times")
ICE officers in California shot and wounded a man on Tuesday after he allegedly tried to ram one of them with his vehicle, according to the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The man was transported to a hospital, and the FBI responded to the scene, ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.
“As officers approached the car, the wanted gang member weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over,” Lyons said. “Following their training, our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents, and the public.”
An unconfirmed video claiming to capture the moment ICE agents confronted the man — who the agency describes as an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador with suspected gang connections — began circulating on social media on Tuesday.
The video, captured from another car’s dash cam, shows agents surrounding a small hatchback before it reverses away and slams into a truck. The vehicle then accelerates forward and away from the agents, who appear to then fire into the car. The car drives over a cement median on the road before coming to a stop in the oncoming traffic lane.
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Though the car does drive near the ICE agents, it does not appear in the video to at any point accelerate toward any of the agents.
The agency identified the man as Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, and claimed he is a member of the 18th Street Gang. Hernandez is reportedly wanted in El Salvador for questioning related to a murder, Lyons said.
The Department of Justice has described the gang as a “well-known and established international criminal organization and violent street gang” that has members across the U.S. The gang reportedly started as a Mexican-American street gang but has grown to more than 10,000 members in the U.S., according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency.
The DEA said that 12 members and associates of the gang were arrested in Los Angeles last month on numerous charges, including a murder charge for the death of a drug dealer.
On the same day as the shooting, three leaders in the gang were sentenced to more than 115 years in prison on racketeering charges, according to the DOJ.
The shooting occurred in Patterson, a farm town of 25,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley, about 90 miles (145 km) southeast of San Francisco.
The FBI confirmed that it is investigating the shooting.
“We are conducting a thorough investigation in partnership with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office and are grateful for the Patterson community’s continued patience and support,” the FBI said, according to NBC News.
California Governor Gavin Newsom noted in incident in a post on X on Tuesday.
“As is established practice, we expect our federal law enforcement partners to appropriately collaborate with state and local law enforcement as this matter is investigated,” he wrote.
The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office said it is assisting with the investigation and confirmed no NBC News that no local law enforcement officers were involved.
The sheriff’s office advised drivers in a social media post that the road around the site of the incident would be closed for much of the day.
The Department of Homeland Security said in January that ICE officers experienced 66 vehicular attacks against them in the first year of President Donald Trump’s second term, up from two such incidents in the previous year.
