The Department of Homeland Security says ICE and CBP officers shot 11 people since September amid an expanded deportation effort, and most incidents involved shots fired at vehicles. Policing experts warn the cases — including three fatalities — may indicate a troubling pattern and raise concerns about training and accountability. DHS insists officers faced imminent threats and that use-of-force incidents are reviewed, but public details and investigative findings remain limited.
11 People Shot by DHS Immigration Officers Since September — Vehicle Shootings Raise Pattern and Training Concerns
The scene following a deadly ICE shooting in Franklin Park, Ill. (Paul Beaty / AP)(Paul Beaty)
Federal immigration officers with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) have shot 11 people since September as the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) expanded deportation and arrest operations nationwide. The majority of the encounters involved officers firing at people in vehicles — a tactic policing experts and reform groups have long sought to limit.
Experts say the string of shootings, documented across multiple states, raises alarm about the growing deployment of DHS personnel into communities and the department’s training and accountability practices. "This is clearly developing into a pattern and practice of how they deal with people in the enforcement of immigration laws," said Jim Bueermann, former Redlands, California, police chief and head of the Future Policing Institute.
“This is clearly developing into a pattern and practice of how they deal with people in the enforcement of immigration laws, and to me that’s the most alarming thing we’re seeing.”
DHS officials dispute the suggestion of a pattern and say officers believed their lives were in danger in each case. "The pattern is NOT of law enforcement using deadly force. It’s a pattern of vehicles being used as weapons by violent agitators to attack our law enforcement," DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said, adding that agents receive ongoing use-of-force and de-escalation training.
Still, national policing guidance from groups such as the Police Executive Research Forum and the International Association of Chiefs of Police urges officers to avoid positioning themselves in front of or behind vehicles and to restrict shooting at moving cars because of the high risk to bystanders. DHS policy also prohibits firing at moving vehicles except when an officer reasonably believes the driver poses an imminent threat of death or serious injury.
Marimar Martinez, center, with her family, survived a shooting by a Border Patrol agent in Chicago. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune via Getty Images)(E. Jason Wambsgans)
Incidents
Franklin Park, Illinois — Sept. 12, 2025
Who was shot: Silverio Villegas González (killed).
Who fired: Unnamed ICE officer.
Villegas González, 38, a Mexican national living in the U.S. without authorization, was stopped by ICE during a traffic stop. Officers positioned a Jeep in front of his vehicle and approached from both sides. Business security footage captured part of the interaction; DHS said Villegas González backed up, then pulled forward and struck and dragged an officer, who fired. Villegas González crashed into a truck and later died; an autopsy indicated a gunshot wound to the neck. DHS said he had a history of reckless driving.
Latest: The status of the federal investigation is unclear.
Agents shot Carlitos Ricardo Parias in Los Angeles. (U.S. District Court for Central California)(U.S. District Court for Central California)
Chicago — Oct. 4, 2025
Who was shot: Marimar Martinez (injured).
Who fired: CBP Agent Charles Exum.
Federal officials said Martinez, a U.S. citizen, struck a vehicle occupied by three Border Patrol agents and helped box them in; Exum fired roughly five rounds and Martinez was later found at a repair shop with gunshot wounds. She was arrested on obstruction charges but a judge later dismissed the case after prosecutors dropped charges. Court records indicate Exum sent messages about the shooting; at a hearing he said he acted to save his life.
Latest: Martinez plans to file a lawsuit, her attorney said.
Jose Garcia-Sorto was injured in a shooting by a ICE officer along Phoenix's Interstate 17. (KPNX)(KPNX)
Los Angeles — Oct. 21, 2025
Who was shot: Carlitos Ricardo Parias (injured).
Who fired: Unnamed ICE officer.
Parias, a Mexican national known on social media as “Richard LA,” was followed during an arrest-warrant operation. Officials say his car was boxed in by government vehicles and that he moved the car in a way that put officers at risk; an ICE officer broke a passenger-side window and fired, striking Parias in the arm. A ricochet hit a U.S. marshal in the hand. Parias was charged with assaulting a federal officer, but a judge later dismissed the charge citing constitutional violations during his detention.
Latest: Parias remains in detention in Adelanto, California; prosecutors have filed notice of appeal.
Jose Garcia-Sorto was injured in a shooting by a ICE officer along Phoenix's Interstate 17. (KPNX)(KPNX)
Phoenix — Oct. 29, 2025
Who was shot: Jose Garcia-Sorto (injured).
Who fired: Unnamed ICE officer.
DHS said Garcia-Sorto, described as a Honduran in the U.S. without authorization, was stopped on Interstate 17 and began to pull away when officers approached; an officer in the vehicle’s path fired twice in what DHS called a defensive discharge. Garcia-Sorto was treated at a hospital and later released into custody at a detention center.
Latest: Garcia-Sorto is being held in Florence, Arizona; no criminal charges tied to the shooting have been announced.
Carlos Jimenez voting in November, weeks after he was shot by an ICE officer. (via The Simon Law Group)(via The Simon Law Group)
Ontario, California — Oct. 30, 2025
Who was shot: Carlos Jimenez (injured).
Who fired: Unnamed ICE officer.
Jimenez, a U.S. citizen, approached officers who were stopping another vehicle, and federal officials said he initially failed to comply and then accelerated toward officers, who fired and struck his shoulder. Jimenez says he was attempting to warn officers about a nearby school bus stop; prosecutors charged him with assaulting a federal officer. He pleaded not guilty and was released on bond.
Latest: Trial is scheduled for April 13.
Carlos Jimenez's car after the shooting. (via The Simon Law Group)(via The Simon Law Group)
Starr County, Texas — Dec. 11, 2025
Who was shot: Isaias Sanchez Barboza (killed).
Who fired: Unnamed CBP agent.
Border Patrol agents reported spotting several people in camouflage on the riverbank near the Rio Grande and said the group scattered. Agents attempted to detain one man identified as Barboza; an agent described an "active struggle" lasting about two minutes before firing multiple times. Barboza was later pronounced dead at a hospital.
Latest: Barboza’s body was returned to Mexico; the Texas Rangers continue their investigation.
An ICE officer shot and injured Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins behind the wheel of his van in Glen Burnie, Md., on Christmas Eve. (Dept. of Homeland Security via X)(Dept. of Homeland Security via X)
Glen Burnie, Maryland — Dec. 24, 2025
Who was shot: Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins (injured).
Who fired: Unnamed ICE officer.
DHS said Sousa-Martins, a Portuguese national who overstayed a visa, was approached in his van during an operation, failed to turn off the engine and rammed ICE vehicles before driving toward officers; agents fired and wounded him. Initial DHS accounts said a passenger was injured in the crash, but local police later said that person had been in ICE custody; DHS confirmed the correction.
Latest: Sousa-Martins remains in ICE custody; the Anne Arundel County Police Department is investigating.
The scene of a Border Patrol shooting in Portland, Ore., in which Luis David Nino Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras were wounded. DHS said Nino Moncada struck an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle multiple times. (NBC News)(NBC News)
Minneapolis — Jan. 7, 2026
Who was shot: Renee Good (killed).
Who fired: ICE Officer Jonathan Ross.
Good, a Minneapolis resident and U.S. citizen, was in an SUV when federal vehicles tried to pass on a one-way street. Video shows officers ordering her out; she briefly reversed and then moved forward. Officer Ross, who had been circling the vehicle while recording on his phone, fired three times from near the hood, striking Good in the chest and head; she later died. DHS said Ross fired in self-defense and reported injuries to his torso.
Latest: The FBI is investigating and has largely taken control of the probe; the Hennepin County Attorney is collecting evidence independently. Good’s family retained a civil-rights attorney.
Law enforcement officers guard the perimeter of the scene as residents protest a federal agent-involved shooting during an immigration enforcement operation in Minneapolis on Jan. 14. (Madison Thorn / Anadolu via Getty Images)(Madison Thorn)
Portland, Oregon — Jan. 8, 2026
Who was shot: Luis David Nino Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras (both injured).
Who fired: Unnamed CBP agent.
Authorities said Nino Moncada, a Venezuelan ordered removed in 2024, was targeted in an operation tied to a prostitution ring and refused to exit his vehicle. Officials allege he reversed and struck an unoccupied Border Patrol vehicle multiple times; an agent fired, wounding Nino Moncada in the arm and a passenger, Zambrano-Contreras, in the chest. Both were hospitalized and later released.
Latest: Nino Moncada has pleaded not guilty and is jailed in Multnomah County; Zambrano-Contreras remains in federal custody. The Oregon Attorney General opened a separate investigation while the FBI continues to probe.
Minneapolis — Jan. 14, 2026
Who was shot: Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis (injured).
Who fired: Unnamed federal law enforcement officer.
DHS said officers conducted a targeted traffic stop on Sosa-Celis, a Venezuelan who fled in his car, crashed and ran. An officer pursued and a struggle followed; DHS said two bystanders attacked the officer with a shovel and a broomstick and that Sosa-Celis assaulted the officer before being shot in the leg. All three alleged attackers were arrested and taken to hospital.
Latest: The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is investigating.
Methodology
This compilation includes incidents in which an on-duty ICE or CBP officer fired a gun and struck a person. It excludes events where officers fired without striking anyone or where only less-lethal projectiles were used. Descriptions are drawn from government statements, police records, court filings, video, and witness accounts; available details vary and may evolve as investigations proceed.
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