Lawyers Say Masked ICE Agent Shot Father in the Neck Without Identifying Himself

Lawyers for a man shot by an immigration officer while driving with his young son in New York City said in a court filing Wednesday that the agent never identified himself before he ran up to the car, smashed a window and fired into the vehicle. Their account of the Oct. 8 shooting of Oscar Belgal, 28, contradicts the version offered by the Department of Homeland Security.

The Legal Aid Society filed a habeas petition in Brooklyn federal court seeking Belgal's release. It says he had picked up his son from school and stopped in front of a fire hydrant, looking for a parking spot, when "an anonymous, masked man" ran up with a gun drawn, followed by other masked men with guns. "The men did not identify themselves, show any documents or otherwise communicate with Oscar in any substantive way," his lawyers wrote. "Instead, without identifying himself, the first man struck and shattered Oscar's window and began firing a pistol into Oscar's car while his son cowered in the back seat." One bullet struck him in the neck.

DHS says officers fired only after Belgal smashed his car into two government vehicles and "accelerated toward other officers." Marcos Charles, who heads ICE enforcement and removal operations, said at a news conference that Belgal refused orders to exit the vehicle. A Homeland Security spokesperson said he was targeted as a Dominican national with alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang and a record of arrests including assault, robbery and weapons possession. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officers did not know a child was in the car and blamed Belgal for endangering the boy, calling him a "thug."

Surveillance video released by the NYPD, which was not part of the operation, shows a man in a sweatshirt and red hat running to the car with his gun pointed at Belgal and bashing the driver's window, which breaks on the second blow. A second officer draws his gun. Belgal pulls away, and the car leaves the camera's view. Police have said an agent fired at least seven shots. The footage does not conclusively settle how the shooting happened. The car ended up against a concrete barrier with bullet holes in the windshield and rear window.

Belgal is being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. His lawyers, from the Legal Aid Society and Make the Road New York, say the bullet is still lodged in his neck, that he needs surgery, that the left side of his face is numb and that he can barely hear from his left ear. They say he has been in solitary confinement with inadequate food and medical care. The Bureau of Prisons declined to comment on his treatment, saying only that it does not deny inmates necessary medical treatment.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani has called for ICE to stop operating in the city, criticizing the agents' masks and construction vests. "If you see that image as a New Yorker walking on the street, how would you know that this is a federal agent?" he said. Belgal's lawyers say he did not learn the men were ICE officers until he woke up in the hospital. A federal judge has barred the government from deporting him or moving him out of the region for now. DHS says the incident remains under investigation.