An ICE officer fatally shot a Mexican national Tuesday morning in Houston during an attempted traffic stop to conduct an immigration arrest, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The agency said in a statement that ICE officers were trying to arrest Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who it said is not authorized to be in the country, about 6:50 a.m.
DHS accused the man of trying to evade arrest.
“From information we are receiving, he rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle,” DHS said in its statement.
An ICE officer fired his weapon “in self-defense” — striking the driver, Salgado Araujo, according to the agency.
DHS said the man was taken to the hospital, where he died.
Ronaldo Salgado mourned his father’s death on Facebook, calling him “a hardworking Mexican man.”
“My father has been in this country for nearly 35 years, working in construction to provide for myself, my two brothers, and my mother,” Ronaldo Salgado wrote. “He was in the process of obtaining his work permit through the legal process. He was on his way to work, picking up his workers. My father did not deserve this.”
Ronaldo Salgado asked for privacy for his grieving family.
According to the League of United Latin American Citizens, an immigrant advocacy group that has been in touch with the victim’s family, Salgado Araujo was driving around the historically Latino neighborhood of Magnolia Park looking for day laborers when he was shot and killed.
One of his sons witnessed his death, said Domingo Garcia, chairman of the LULAC Adelante PAC, and several witnesses took photos and videos of the incident.
LULAC called for an independent investigation conducted by local officials and compared Tuesday’s fatal shooting to previous deaths associated with immigration enforcement, including that of Renee Good in Minneapolis.
“This is not an isolated event across the nation,” LULAC National President Roman Palomares told reporters Tuesday afternoon. “We have seen a pattern of ICE involvement in shootings and excessive use of force. Each time a family is left without answers, and a community is left in fear.”
FBI officials said in a statement that the agency sent an evidence response team from its Houston field office to the scene but clarified that the team is investigating a potential assault on a federal officer.
It is not investigating the shooting, the agency said.
Houston police have said they are not involved, and the mayor’s office referred all questions to Homeland Security.
LULAC CEO Juan Proaño said: “The federal government handed us a story about Renee Good, and the story fell apart moments after the video was released. Today, in Houston, we’re being handed the same story about Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in almost the same exact words. Prove it.”
U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia, the Democrat who represents the neighborhood where the shooting took place, pushed for a full and impartial investigation.
“ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force,” Garcia said in a statement. “All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed.”
Juana Degollado said her stepfather, Daniel Tirado Pantoja, was in the vehicle with Salgado Araujo when the federal officer fired Tuesday morning.
“They were on their way to work when they were detained,” she told NBC News, adding that her stepfather’s been in the United States for three decades. “We don’t have any more information on him, we don’t know where he’s detained. We’re hoping we can get a call tomorrow and go from there.”
She said she fears he will deported and is anxious for more information.
“We want them to fight and get justice,” she said.
