In NYC’s the Bronx: ICE Agents Fire Multiple Rounds Into Car With Five-Year-Old Child, Injuring Driver They Were Pursuing
Editor’s note: This video shows the moments referenced below, when ICE agents in plainclothes run up on a car parked on the street with guns drawn. In New York City’s Marble Hill neighborhood, which is technically located in the Bronx but is legally part of Manhattan (making both locations in recent reporting technically accurate but very confusing), plainclothes, masked ICE agents ran up, with guns drawn, on a car that was parked and going slowly in reverse, in a presumed effort to pull out and leave, and one also began pounding on the window of the car with his fists while the driver attempted to pull out and drive away.
Anyone who lives in or has visited the Bronx would have thought they were in the midst of a carjacking. Unless there is something else that happened directly before that, such as the agents yelling at him and showing badges for instance, he would not have had any way of knowing they were ICE agents. As the driver attempted to speed away, one of the agents fired seven shots into or around the car, where the five-year-old son of the driver was also sitting in the back seat. Thankfully, the child was not hit by any bullets. The back window was blown apart by a bullet, but he was unharmed. He is, however, quite traumatized and has become non-speaking, causing consternation to his mother.
One can assume that Markwayne Mullin was accurate and truthful when he stated that it was not known that there was a child in the car. However, this is a similar situation to what happened with Renee Good in Minnesota, but it is not in this instance known what had occurred beforehand, whereas in her case the whole incident was recorded, and this video shows only the car pulling away and does not show whether he came close to hitting the agents. DHS has defended its officers’ actions, saying once again that the car was being weaponized and the agents were in fear for their lives.
Several bystanders who witnessed the shots fired called 911, and several officers were on the scene in minutes. They arrived to a chaotic scene, where the driver was sitting on the ground in a kind of daze, bleeding from the gunshot wound to his neck, receiving little care. A man in a yellow construction vest with a badge around his neck on a chain is standing there with a semi-automatic weapon of some kind. The NYPD officers immediately began questioning the victim, agree together he is to be transported stat, put on gloves, and assess the situation. Rather than waiting minutes, possibly thirty or more, for an ambulance with a stretcher to arrive, when asked where is the ambulance, he says it’s right there. He means his police vehicle, which had ample room for the patient to sit up or lean over. This officer prepares the back door for the arrival, returns to the injured man, and together NYPD officers hoist the patient up by his arms and legs and, between three or four officers, run with him to that suburban-style police vehicle, place him carefully inside while an officer holds his neck, and raced to the hospital. ICE agents met them at the hospital shortly thereafter.
Thanks to the officers’ quick response and taking charge of the situation, the man who was shot is now in stable condition, and was transferred to the Manhattan detention center. His injuries, whether they were initially life-threatening or not, were treated by the doctors at the hospital. Without the speed of treatment, he could have also suffered from shock, excessive loss of blood followed by fainting, and possible death, particularly as head and neck wounds tend to cause rather rapid loss of blood, which can be life-threatening quite quickly, and it is likely that the NYPD officers’ actions in this case saved his life.
It is possible that this week he will be visited by that area’s current and leaving Representative Goldman, who has been making unannounced and legally authorized visits to this very detention center that he was taken to (as ordered by a judge). When officers first arrived, bodycam video shows the ICE agents were not administering first aid, and they were not the ones who transported the patient to the hospital. The heroic NYPD officers were able to prevent an actual tragedy – especially since in most cases of ICE detentions and deportations, the people pursued are NOT criminals (60%, by DHS’ own numbers have no criminal record at all). So now he will have to undergo due process, as the Supreme Court recently ruled, which a right that all persons within the United States, citizen or not, are entitled to since they are automatically subject to the laws by that same presence within the borders of the US.
NYPD and the Bronx district attorney appear to be leading this investigation. In contrast to Minnesota, they have all the footage themselves already. They have the police street camera footage of the moments just before, and they have the relevant bodycam footage, both already released to the public. We can expect to learn more as the days go on this week. It should also be mentioned that there are thousands of New Yorkers who have turned out to protest what they see as an unreasonable use of force.
Statements from local politicians, including the mayor and the governor and several representatives and senators, can be found below:
Rep. Malliotakis raised this issue in a recent interview. She states that the person who was shot had an extensive criminal record, and he has been arrested in 2023 for grand larceny, as well as in 2025 for drug charges that were non-bail eligible offenses. He is also accused of being a gang member. While this may be the case, a judge in Brooklyn has ruled that he must remain in New York for the duration of the current trial. In other words, he cannot be deported. The child who was in the backseat was uninjured, and is with their mother.
A lawyer representing Mr. Belgal, from Make the Road New York, which has a location on Staten Island, Harold Solis, said “Regardless of whether or not someone has a criminal history, it is not lawful, it is not okay, to shoot a father in the afternoon with his son in the backseat. That is not how we resolve legal disputes in this country. We resolve them in buildings like these, in courtrooms.” This is due process, and will play out in the coming months for this migrant. Readers may be interested in learning more about the immigrant story from the perspective and point of view of Mexican asylum seekers. A new movie, Brotherhood: A Cinematic Musical, does an incredible job of portraying this perspective.
GILLIBRAND STATEMENT ON ICE AGENT SHOOTING IN NEW YORK CITY
New York, New York — U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) issued the following statement on reports that a man was shot by an ICE agent in New York City this afternoon:
“My thoughts are with the Marble Hill community as we await more information about the shooting involving ICE agents this afternoon. It is critical that all the facts are brought to light, and I expect a thorough and transparent review of exactly what transpired.”
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani Releases Statement on ICE Shooting
NEW YORK – Today, Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani released the following statement after a New Yorker was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent:
This afternoon in Marble Hill, a New Yorker was shot by an ICE agent in a residential neighborhood. Early reports indicate agents surrounded him and a 5-year-old child in his car before firing multiple rounds. We believe the child was physically unharmed.
This is an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation. I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city. I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.
Our thoughts are with the injured New Yorker and his family tonight. We are praying for his recovery. Get ICE out of our neighborhoods. Get ICE out of our hospitals. Get ICE off our streets. Get ICE away from our children.
Abolish ICE.
Ocasio-Cortez Statement on ICE Shooting in Marble Hill
NEW YORK – Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (NY-14) released the following statement tonight after federal agents shot and injured a New Yorker in Marble Hill on Thursday.
“Today in Marble Hill, ICE agents fired multiple shots at a man in his vehicle while his 5-year-old child was in the back seat.
“ICE’s already unwelcome presence in our city has been growing more escalatory and dangerous by the day. Today’s shooting is a grave development that requires a swift and immediate response to protect the safety of all New Yorkers.
“First, we must have a full and independent investigation of this incident.
“There must also be a full and immediate release of all body camera footage of the incident.
“In addition, the Target Corporation must stop offering their Bronx properties as private staging sites for ICE, in compliance with requests from New York officials. Target opening up large, active retail parking lots for paramilitary activity is unacceptable and places the entire community at risk.
“ICE is a rogue, lawless paramilitary and surveillance agency. It does not belong in New York City and it should not exist in the United States of America. Abolish ICE.”
Governor Hochul, during an MSNOW interview after the shooting:
Governor Hochul: “I also said I want a cessation of ICE activities in New York, at least in the short term. Let us calm everything down. I said, ‘This is a tinderbox.’ When you go into a neighborhood, in broad daylight, and fire shots near a school with lots of kids around, and there’s a child in a car and you shoot into that vehicle, then there’s justified outrage from this community.”
Hochul: “This is not a sanctuary for criminals, but we are a place where people want to build a life to live safely, obey our laws and to live the American dream. That’s what we’re all about here in New York.”
A rush transcript of the Governor’s remarks is available below:
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: Joining me at the table, New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Governor, thank you so much —
Governor Hochul: Thank you very much.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: — for being here on this important story. What can you tell us about the state of this investigation?
Governor Hochul: Well, it is ongoing. And we have insisted that the body cam footage be released to the public as soon as possible. This is exactly what I told the President last night. I also told Secretary Mullin. We insist on seeing the evidence of what exactly happened there.
I also said I want a cessation of ICE activities in New York, at least in the short term. Let us calm everything down. I said, “This is a tinderbox.” When you go into a neighborhood, in broad daylight, and fire shots near a school with lots of kids around, and there’s a child in a car and you shoot into that vehicle, then there’s justified outrage from this community.
And it basically is a statement that we have had enough. We are so lucky that we’re not talking to a mom who’s making funeral plans for a five-year-old. I talked to her last night. That child is terrorized. Usually a very chatty, talkative child, very carefree. Mom says he just won’t talk. He’s just, he’s just traumatized. Who does that?
And I want to make another point. I have over 500 policing agencies in the State of New York. They issue hundreds of thousands of arrests every single year, but they don’t shoot into vehicles not knowing what’s inside. They don’t shoot into vehicles at all. They don’t go into neighborhoods in the middle of the afternoon and shoot near a school. There are restraints on everybody else except for ICE. What does that tell you? This is an intentional infliction of pain, of chaos, of just trying to terrorize neighborhoods, intimidate.
There’s no other way to describe it. They’re not trained because trained police officers do not shoot into vehicles not knowing a thing about it, and that’s why we had a near tragedy yesterday, a man with a bullet in his neck and a child who almost lost his life. That’s what we’re dealing with in 2026 in Trump’s America.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: When you spoke to the mom of that five-year-old, did she give you a sense of what that child saw and what they were able to process?
Governor Hochul: He won’t talk. The child is not speaking, and that’s what disturbs her so much because she says he’s very usually outgoing, very talkative, but he witnesses this. He’s in the backseat of a car. The bullets are coming into the vehicle that he’s in being transported by his father. And a bullet strikes his father’s neck. I’m sure he saw bloodshed and how does a five-year-old process that?
I’m a mom. I just talked to the mom on the phone, but I just want to give her a hug and tell her, “This should never have happened to you.” This is so un-American.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: When you, when you say that you’ve called for a cessation of ICE activity in the State of New York, is that a plea that you have made to Secretary Markwayne Mullin, a plea that you have made to the President? To whom has that plea gone?
Governor Hochul: I made it to both. I said, “We have to calm this situation down. Just stop ICE operations.” And then they make the claim, “We’re only going after the worst of the worst.” You’re not going after the worst of the worst because why do I have high school students or nursing moms or people who are in their 70s, who’ve been living their whole lives here working hard at a pizzeria, why are they in detention centers? So don’t tell me that.
I said there are a lot of people who have not committed crimes, who are not the worst of the worst. You always just bring them all together as if they’re all doing the same thing and that is false. We know what’s going on here. These are our neighbors. We see it happening all over New York, one of the most diverse communities on the planet. All the different neighborhoods. People are afraid to go to church. They’re afraid to go to school. We don’t want them afraid to go vote either. They need to vote.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: You’ve made the point about asking for cessation of ICE activity. DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin has said publicly that he will not stop ICE operations in the state. Is that what he told you privately?
Governor Hochul: He said he’s not able to do that. I said, “Then issue an order that directs all ICE agents to not fire guns into vehicles.” I asked for that as well.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: And was he amenable to that?
Governor Hochul: No.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: And the President, was the President responsive? I
Governor Hochul: I asked them both the same questions. We had a conversation and you know, I get a description of these terrorists and murderers and rapists and if there’s a terrorist, a murderer, a rapist, our policies say we will help you remove them. It is New York State’s law and policy that we will cooperate with federal agencies when there’s a court order or warrant for someone’s arrest. We always have. This is not new.
So calling us a sanctuary state is a mischaracterization. It’s not a sanctuary for criminals, but we are a place for people who come to build a better life and their families and escape persecution and oppression and poverty. They’re welcome here.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: So you’ve made this plea to Secretary Mullin, you’ve made this plea to the President. They have both denied the request, both for the cessation of ICE forces and for a policy that would restrict them from using lethal—
Governor Hochul: I asked them — I asked Secretary Mullin directly about the policy. I said, “Other policing agencies do not do this.” I’m proud to represent hardworking, well-trained law enforcement who are professionals in our state. Five hundred agencies, hundreds of thousands of arrests every single year, and this doesn’t happen with them. So something has gone awry. That is why this is a rogue agency. They’re out of control here in New York, in Minneapolis, Los Angeles, all over our country, but not just in our big cities.
The stories that you hear on farms in Upstate New York and factories right outside of Syracuse. There’s a factory there where six moms with children under the age of one were taken away and put in detention centers. These were nursing moms, stripped away, who were hard at work making nutrition bars in a factory in Upstate New York. This is what we’re talking about.
If they’re a hardened criminal, we don’t want them here either. We’ll work with you. But the vast, vast, vast majority are not.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: You mentioned Syracuse. Donald Trump is going to hold a rally there in a few hours. The New York Post claims that he’s going to attack you for your handling of immigration. Would you like the opportunity to rebut that?
Governor Hochul: I already told him. Last night, I directly told the President, and I said, “I know it’s a Republican talking point, but it is false to say that we are a sanctuary. We are not a sanctuary for criminals.” And I repeated, I said, “I’m going to say it again because you’re going to hear otherwise, and you’re going to say otherwise. This is not a sanctuary for criminals, but we are a place where people want to build a life to live safely, obey our laws and to live the American dream.” That’s what we’re all about here in New York.
So I don’t really pay attention to what they’re doing tonight. I’ve got a state to run. It’s obviously a very political event. It seems like a last-ditch effort to breathe some life into a campaign that is on life support. They’ll do what they do. I don’t think it’s going to be helpful.
Alicia Menendez, MSNOW: New York Governor Kathy Hochul. Thank you so much for taking the time to be with us.
TRANSCRIPT: MAYOR MAMDANI HOLDS PRESS CONFERENCE ON ICE SHOOTING IN MARBLE HILL
Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani: Good evening, everyone. Around 4 p.m. this afternoon, a New Yorker was shot by ICE agents in Marble Hill. Many of the facts surrounding this shooting are still unclear, but here’s what we know. ICE agents surrounded the man’s vehicle before opening fire. They wore construction vests and masks that concealed their faces. There was no reasonable way to identify them as ICE agents.
School had just gotten out. The street was crowded with families and children. When ICE agents opened fire, a 5-year-old child — a 5-year-old child — was in the back seat of the car. Thank God that child is physically unharmed.
For the past two hours, I have been on the phone with President Trump and Secretary Mullin negotiating the release of the man ICE agents shot. Those negotiations were unsuccessful. Just moments ago, ICE put the man in an unmarked vehicle and whisked him away.
Let me say this plainly: What happened today was an outrage. Tonight, a 5-year-old child sits traumatized and terrified. Tonight, millions of our neighbors are wondering whether they will be safe on our streets, in our schools, at their work sites. Tonight, New Yorkers across the five boroughs are asking whether their civil liberties will be respected, whether law and order is supposed to look like a man carrying a long gun, wearing a mask.
We know that ICE is rotten to its core. Today’s shooting is only further devastating confirmation of what we have long known: that ICE operates with impunity, that they sow chaos and terror across our country, that they have killed far more of our neighbors than they could ever have claimed to save.
I also want to say something on a personal note. I stand here not just as the mayor of our city, but as someone who is proud to be an immigrant in our city. And I know that these kinds of raids, this kind of terrorizing of this city, leave the 3 million immigrants of this city asking if they are safe here, if they belong here, if this, too, can be their home.
We will not normalize ICE’s viciousness. We will not accept its cruelty. We know, and I’ve said this directly, whether to the president or to the public, ICE undermines public safety. It makes us less safe.
New York City will not stand by while ICE agents shoot New Yorkers. And we will not back down from the demand that so many, including myself, have put forward time and again. This is an agency that must be abolished. Thank you.
With that, I am now going to turn it over to our Police Commissioner, Jessica Tisch.
Police Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch: Thank you, sir. I’m here to brief you on an incident that occurred earlier today involving ICE agents in Marble Hill, right behind me. The information I’m about to provide is preliminary, and it is subject to change.
At 4:04 p.m., the NYPD received two 911 calls reporting a person shot and shots fired in the vicinity of 2 Marble Hill Avenue. At the same time, a federal agent called 911 requesting the Fire Department and then asked for the NYPD.
According to our preliminary investigation, federal immigration agents were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in an effort to take an individual into immigration custody. At the time, that individual was inside a gray Honda CR-V with a 5-year-old boy whom we believe to be his son.
NYPD Argus cameras captured the victim backing into a parking spot in front of a fire hydrant right behind me. At that time, one plainclothes federal law enforcement officer approaches the driver’s side window with his gun drawn. Another plainclothes officer also approaches the vehicle by the driver’s side headlight. The vehicle then starts to move forward and goes out of camera view. The Argus cameras do not capture the discharge.
Based on evidence collected at the scene, we know that at least one ICE agent discharged seven rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear.
Members of the NYPD’s 50th Precinct Conditions Team were responding to an unrelated call nearby when they heard the report of shots fired, and they responded to that scene. When they arrived, they encountered several men in various forms of attire, including some in construction-style vests, face masks and at least one carrying a long gun.
Our officers also encountered the injured individual, handcuffed and seated on the ground. Our officers immediately placed him into an NYPD vehicle and rendered aid. They transported him to New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he arrived in stable condition. Our officers’ actions were captured on body-worn camera.
I want to be clear: The NYPD had no involvement in the federal operation prior to the shooting, and no members of the NYPD were on scene at the time of the shooting.
Additional NYPD officers arrived and secured the scene for the purpose of preserving evidence. At least seven shell casings were recovered at the scene, along with the victim’s vehicle, which had ballistic damage to the front windshield. The back window of the car was also shattered. That vehicle was positioned perpendicular to the road.
An ICE vehicle, which is a gray four-door sedan, had damage to the left front panel, and the lower panel was fully disconnected.
With respect to the child who was inside the vehicle: Pursuant to a wellness check, the NYPD located the child safe and in the care of a family member.
The individual who was shot has been identified as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal. He has two prior arrests in New York City: one for robbery in 2023, in which he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and received five years’ probation, and one for criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025, which is still pending.
At this time, federal agents have exercised their authority to take over the investigation. I will now turn it over to our attorney general.
Question: [Inaudible.]
Mayor Mamdani: There is no explanation for these tactics. There is no explanation for federal officers firing this many rounds into a car that has a 5-year-old in the car. There is no explanation.
We are standing here, so close to the site where this actually took place, and look at how many people live right here. This is a residential neighborhood. We are right here by a subway, and the pretext of ICE is, in their words, to keep this country safe. How is it keeping anyone safe to have, as you just heard from the police commissioner, individuals wearing construction vests and masks with long guns?
Residents have no idea if these are law enforcement agents or if they are simply attacking someone on the street. And when it comes to ICE, it begs the question: What’s the difference? There is no explanation for this.
Question: [Inaudible.]
Mayor Mamdani: Now, I 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 New Yorkers terrified.
You are hearing from New Yorkers right now — anguish, pain, anger — at the fact that here in this city, the world’s city, immigrants have to wake up every morning and not know if they can live the lives that they should be able to live and help to build this city.
I’m proud to stand here alongside our public advocate, our attorney general, assembly members, City Council members, state senators and elected officials at all levels, united in the belief that there is no justification for what we have seen today. And we know that what we’ve seen today is but a microcosm of what ICE does on a daily basis across this country.
How can that be how we describe public safety? It can’t be. And I’ve shared that with the president. I’ve shared that with the secretary.
This city wants ICE out. We want ICE out of our city, ICE out of our schools, ICE out of our hospitals, ICE out of our streets, ICE away from our kids. We want that because we want to keep the city safe. We do not need them to do so. All they do is terrorize this city.
Banner Image: Commissioner Tisch briefs the media. Image Credit – juandr47
Staten Islander News Service Staff Writer
This byline indicates that this article was penned by a member/members of the Staten Islander News Organization office team. Our staff writers are the backbone of our newspaper, performing all sorts of important tasks like conducting interviews, investigating leads, besides writing the news stories you see.
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