ICE officials defend shooting of Oscar Belgal with son in car

US immigration officials defended agents who shot and wounded Oscar Belgal, 28, in his car in New York on Thursday while his five-year-old son sat in the back seat. Department of Homeland Security chief Markwayne Mullin said officers opened fire while trying to arrest a man with a criminal history. Belgal survived and is being held at a detention facility outside New York.bbc.co.uk+1

The shooting matters because it has drawn criticism from New York's mayor and governor, and because the account given by federal officials differs from what local leaders described. The head of Homeland Security and a senior ICE official have now publicly justified the use of force, rather than treating the incident as an isolated act under review.

What officials said happened

Marcos Charles, head of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations division, said officers used their vehicles to try to stop Belgal, who resisted orders to get out and instead accelerated, smashing into two ICE vehicles. Charles said Belgal then weaponised his vehicle and accelerated towards other officers, and that officers, believing their lives and the public's were in danger, fired their weapons.

Charles said Belgal was struck by one bullet or fragments superficially in the neck. The number of officers who fired is being investigated. Mullin said officers identified themselves and wore body-worn cameras that were turned on during the incident. Video of the shooting, including body camera footage, has not been made public, though unverified videos on social media appear to align with the mayor's account.

New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who called what happened unconscionable and incredibly serious, said ICE agents surrounded Belgal's car before opening fire. He said they wore construction vests and masks that concealed their faces, and that there was no reasonable way to identify them as ICE agents. Mamdani confirmed the child was unharmed. Body-worn camera footage released by the New York Police Department on Friday shows its officers arriving and helping Belgal after he was shot, with one ICE officer appearing to wear a neon construction vest and carry a large gun.

What officials said about Belgal's record

The Department of Homeland Security said Belgal, 28, was from the Dominican Republic and had a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, possession of drugs and weapons possession. He was arrested by police in New York in December 2023 and released a few days later. New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said there was also a pending case against Belgal for criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025.cbsnews.com

Mullin said the department believed Belgal had either indirect or direct knowledge of a US Customs and Border Protection officer shooting, and that this was why he became a target. Federal officials say Belgal was affiliated with the Trinitarios, described by the US justice department as a transnational criminal group. Belgal's lawyers appeared at a hearing on his behalf on Friday; attorney Harold Solis said outside court that the first thing Belgal asked him was whether his son was OK.

Another of Belgal's lawyers, Paige Austin, told the judge that her client still had a bullet in his body and had been taken to the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn after being discharged from hospital. Austin said he had only been able to make a brief phone call within the hour before the hearing.

What remains under investigation

Governor Kathy Hochul said federal officials needed to provide answers quickly about what happened, saying New Yorkers had witnessed far too many acts of violence by a rogue federal agency and untrained agents that operate with impunity. She said she had spoken to Mullin and to President Donald Trump. Mamdani said on Thursday he had spoken to Trump and Mullin for two hours but failed to negotiate Belgal's release.

Mamdani said he would ask Trump, who has not yet commented publicly on the shooting, to end ICE enforcement actions in New York. Mullin said he will not pause enforcement. The number of officers who fired their weapons remains under investigation, and ICE body camera footage of the shooting has not been released.