A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot a Mexican immigrant who was trying to evade arrest in Texas on Tuesday, the Department of Homeland Security said.
DHS said the immigrant, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was in the country illegally and attempted to evade arrest after ICE moved to detain him at a traffic stop Tuesday morning. DHS said that shortly before 7 a.m. local time, the immigrant rammed an ICE vehicle and didn't follow verbal commands.
Araujo "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense," DHS said. The agency said the immigrant was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries.
The agency didn't say where the shooting took place but said the Federal Bureau of Investigation in Houston was investigating the potential assault of a federal law enforcement officer. DHS said it was investigating the agent-involved shooting.
The FBI in Houston referred questions to DHS on Tuesday. The Houston Police Department didn't return a request for comment.
Federal immigration officers have been involved in multiple shootings over the last year as part of the Trump administration's crackdown. DHS has repeatedly accused immigrants of weaponizing vehicles before officers shot them.
Immigration agents have fired at or into civilian vehicles at least a dozen times, killing at least two people, The Wall Street Journal reported in January. In all but one instance, the civilians were unarmed.
Write to Alyssa Lukpat at alyssa.lukpat@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
July 07, 2026 20:27 ET (00:27 GMT)
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