ICE Agent Fatally Shoots Mexican Man in Houston

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent fatally shot a man in Houston on Tuesday while officers were trying to stop his vehicle. The dead man was identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, whom ICE described as a Mexican national and an “illegal alien” who attempted to evade arrest during a “targeted enforcement operation” by federal immigration officers.

Reuters could not immediately verify the man’s immigration status or the circumstances of the shooting.

Ronaldo Salgado, who identified himself as the son of the slain motorist, told the Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that his father was shot while seeking workers for hire in the area.

According to ICE’s account, Salgado “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer”. The confrontation resulted in “our officer firing his weapon in self-defense”, striking the driver, who was taken to hospital and died of his injuries, ICE said.

A video recorded by an onlooker and posted online by KRIV-TV, a Fox affiliate in Houston, showed two agents crouched over a man lying in the street on the driver’s side of a white van. Two other men could be seen on the ground in handcuffs on the other side of the van.

Since January 2025, when US President Donald Trump began his second term and ordered large-scale deportation sweeps, at least six people have been shot and killed by federal immigration officers.

In several cases, initial statements from immigration enforcement agencies about their use of force have been challenged by video footage or other evidence, sometimes in court.

(Reuters, sak)