DHS Chief Defends New York ICE Shooting, Calls Victim One of the 'Worst of the Worst'

Updated 16:00 UTC: Developing story

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin on Friday defended the federal immigration agents who shot and wounded a man in the Bronx a day earlier, calling the target of the operation one of the "worst of the worst," as New York City leaders condemned the shooting and demanded answers.

The man, identified by authorities as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, a Dominican national, was shot in the neck on Thursday afternoon in Marble Hill after Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers moved in to arrest him. A 5-year-old boy believed to be Belgal's son was in the back seat of his car when the officers opened fire.

What happened

According to Marcos Charles, a senior ICE official, Belgal refused to get out of his car when officers approached, then accelerated, striking two ICE vehicles and driving his car toward other officers. Charles said the vehicle was used as a weapon, and officers fired.

At least one ICE agent discharged seven rounds, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who cited evidence collected at the scene. The driver was struck below his left ear; officials described the wound as superficial. Belgal is now being held at a detention facility outside New York state.

NYPD camera footage of the encounter, described by Tisch, shows Belgal backing into a parking spot when a plainclothes federal officer approached the driver's side window with a gun drawn and a second officer moved toward the front of the car. The vehicle then moved forward and out of the camera's view; the camera did not record the moment shots were fired.

When NYPD officers arrived, they found several men dressed in construction-style clothing with face masks, at least one of them carrying a gun, Tisch said. The injured man was handcuffed and seated on the ground.

The defense

At a Friday press conference, Mullin said the officers did not know a child was in the car when they opened fire and blamed Belgal for endangering both the officers and the boy. He attacked New York's "sanctuary" policies, which limit how much city agencies and police cooperate with federal immigration authorities, arguing they had left Belgal on the street instead of in federal hands.

Federal officials said Belgal was in the country illegally and described his criminal history: DHS said he had ties to the Trinitarios gang, a conviction for grand larceny that brought five years of probation in April 2025, and prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession, and weapons possession. The NYPD commissioner said he was arrested on drug charges in 2025, a case that is still pending.

Mullin said body camera footage of the shooting would eventually be released. As of publication, no video of the incident has been made public.

City pushes back

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting "an outrage" on Thursday, saying the agents who surrounded Belgal's car were not in uniform and could not reasonably be identified as law enforcement. "These actions are making the city less safe," Mamdani said. "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."

Mamdani said he called President Donald Trump and Secretary Mullin on Thursday in an unsuccessful effort to secure Belgal's release.

What remains unclear

This is a developing story. Key questions are unresolved: no body camera footage has been released, so the federal account of the encounter has not been independently verified. Officials have not reported any injury to the child, but details of his condition have not been publicly confirmed. Reuters has noted that in past violent incidents, initial accounts from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security have been contradicted by video and other evidence, sometimes in court.

The New York Post reported that President Trump was expected to highlight immigration enforcement at a rally in upstate New York on Friday, underscoring how the shooting has deepened the standoff between the federal government and New York's leaders.