The shooting of a man by federal immigration agents in Marble Hill, Manhattan, triggered a wave of outrage that intensified Thursday night, when Mayor Zohran Mamdani reported that his negotiations with President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security, Markwayne Mullin, to secure the release of the wounded man had failed.
According to the mayor, ICE agents took the man from the hospital in an unmarked vehicle. New York Police (NYPD) Commissioner Jessica Tisch reported that at least one officer fired seven times during the incident, in which a five-year-old child remained inside the car.
The shooting occurred shortly after 4 pm on Thursday, October 8, near 2 Marble Hill Avenue, as federal agents attempted to arrest the man, identified by police as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal. One of the shots hit him in the neck, just below his left ear.
The child, believed to be the man’s son, was in the back seat of the vehicle. He did not suffer physical injuries and was left in the care of a family member, according to Tisch. During an appearance on Thursday night, Congressman Adriano Espaillat indicated that the minor had already returned to his family.
The circumstances that led to the officer’s shooting remain unclear publicly. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) acknowledged that an ICE agent opened fire, but did not explain what motivated the shots or clarify whether the man was armed.
Mamdani denounces that ICE took the man from the hospital
At a late-night news conference near the scene of the shooting, Mamdani explained that he had spent two hours on the phone with Trump and Mullin to negotiate the release of the wounded man, without success.
“For the past two hours, I have been on the phone with President Trump and Secretary Mullin to negotiate the release of the man who was shot by ICE agents,” the mayor said. “Those negotiations failed. Just moments ago, ICE put the man in an unmarked vehicle and whisked him away.”
It was not immediately reported where the man was taken after being taken from NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.
Mamdani also questioned the way the officers carried out the operation. According to the mayor, the feds surrounded the car with vests similar to those of construction workers and masks that hid their faces, making it difficult to identify them as law enforcement officers.
“There is no explanation for federal agents to shoot so many times at a car with a five-year-old child in it,” he said.
The mayor called the shooting “outrageous,” demanded that ICE end its immigration enforcement operations in the city and reiterated his call to abolish the agency.
«Tonight, a five-year-old boy is traumatized and terrified. “Tonight, millions of our neighbors are wondering if they will be safe on our streets, in our schools and in their workplaces,” he declared.
«We are not going to normalize the brutality of ICE. “We will not accept their cruelty,” he added. «ICE undermines public safety. “It makes us less safe.”
Mamdani also said he had asked Trump and Mullin for federal agents to leave the scene of the shooting.
NYPD confirms seven shots fired
Commissioner Jessica Tisch presented a preliminary account of what happened based on surveillance footage and evidence collected at the scene.
According to Tisch, NYPD cameras captured a gray Honda CR-V backing up to park near a fire hydrant. A plainclothes federal agent approached the driver’s window with his gun drawn, while a second agent approached from the driver’s side headlight area.
The car began to move forward and left the cameras’ field of view. The images did not capture the moment of the shooting.
Investigators determined from evidence found at the scene that at least one ICE agent had fired seven shots. Police recovered at least seven shell casings and found bullet damage to the front windshield, as well as a shattered rear window.
The NYPD received two 911 calls at 4:04 pm reporting a shooting near 2 Marble Hill Avenue. Separately, a federal agent called emergency services to request firefighters and then requested police assistance.
Officers from the NYPD’s 50th Precinct incident response team were nearby responding to another call when they heard reports of shots fired and responded to the scene.
There they found several men wearing different types of clothing, including vests similar to those worn by construction workers and masks that covered their faces. At least one carried a long gun. The injured man was handcuffed and sitting on the ground, according to Tisch.
The officers placed him in a police vehicle, provided him with medical assistance and transported him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he was admitted in stable condition.
“I want to be clear: The NYPD was not involved in the federal operation prior to the shooting and no NYPD members were at the scene when the shots were fired,” Tisch said.
DHS alleges the man had a criminal record
In a statement released Thursday night, the Department of Homeland Security stated that ICE agents were conducting an operation aimed at arresting a Dominican citizen with a prior conviction for grand theft and several previous arrests related to assault, robbery, drugs and weapons possession.
DHS also claimed the man had ties to the Trinitarios gang, an allegation that had not been independently verified.
According to the federal agency, the NYPD had arrested the man in December 2023, but released him days later. DHS attributed his stay in the community to New York’s sanctuary city policies, although it did not explain how those policies influenced his release.
The agency described the man as a “criminal illegal alien” and said its agents provided him with assistance immediately after the shooting. He also indicated that the FBI and the Homeland Security Investigations division were involved in the investigation.
Tisch reported that Belgal had two prior arrests in New York City. One of them, for robbery in 2023, ended with a guilty plea to fourth-degree grand larceny and five years of probation. Additionally, he faces a pending 2025 case for illegal sale of a controlled substance.
The commissioner noted that federal agents had assumed control of the investigation.
Hochul demands that ICE release the recordings
Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the shooting and called on the federal government to provide a full explanation of what happened. He also reported that he spoke Thursday night with Trump and Mullin to demand that ICE suspend its operations in New York and that body camera footage related to the incident, if it existed, be publicly released.
“Any properly trained law enforcement officer knows how easy it would have been for this to end in tragedy. By the grace of God, it appears that that child was physically unharmed,” Hochul stated.
The governor also criticized the actions of ICE and the lack of accountability that, in her opinion, characterizes the agency.
“New Yorkers have seen too many acts of violence by an out-of-control federal agency and untrained officers acting with impunity,” he said.
“I expressed my outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and asked them to stop ICE operations in New York,” he said of his conversations with Trump and Mullin. “I also requested that any body camera footage related to the shooting be released to the public, so we can establish the facts and get to the truth.”
City Council President Julie Menin expressed concern about the fear that ICE operations have generated among immigrants in the city.
“I recognize the enormous fear that ICE’s actions have caused among immigrant New Yorkers and I am deeply concerned about the additional anxiety and uncertainty this incident may generate in communities across our city as we wait for answers,” he said.
Officials and residents demand answers
Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who represents the area, attempted to visit the injured man in the hospital, but federal agents denied him access. The city’s public defender, Jumaane Williams, also responded to the hospital and asked an NYPD officer to help keep calm.
Murad Awawdeh, president of the New York Immigration Coalition, demanded that authorities release the name of the officer who fired the shot and charge and prosecute him if he is found to have committed a crime.
«We demand an independent investigation led by the New York State Attorney General’s Office, in collaboration with the NYPD and the District Attorney’s Office. Furthermore, we demand that the person be released immediately after recovering from his injuries and leaving ICE custody,” Awawdeh stated.
The shooting sparked protests in Marble Hill, where residents confronted federal agents and police officers present.
“You should be ashamed of yourselves,” one person shouted. “What kind of damn oath did they take?”
“Everyone is watching this,” exclaimed another. “This is Minneapolis again.”
A witness who identified herself as Ivette told our sister publication, amNewYork, that she heard the man scream as the police tried to treat his wounds.
«He shouted: ‘Don’t let me die.’ The police pressed the wound with their hands, but blood came out of his back,” he said. “When they took him to the ambulance, he just collapsed. “There was a baby in the back seat.”
Another witness, who identified herself as Stephanie, said she heard at least three gunshots and was surprised because she doesn’t usually hear gunshots in the neighborhood.
“I don’t hear gunshots in this area,” he explained. «There were no NYPD officers. There was only ICE. So I waited a few seconds to see if anyone else would call or if the police would arrive, but they didn’t show up. I started to feel uneasy and ended up calling to report what I had seen, because I wasn’t sure what was going on. I thought the man was about to die. “I got worried.”
Protesters later gathered outside NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where the man was receiving medical care. There were clashes between some protesters and NYPD officers.
The protest occurred in a neighborhood where the presence of ICE had already raised concerns. Earlier that week, the Bronx Times, a media outlet also affiliated with Noticia NY, reported that several elected officials in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan had asked Kingsbridge Developers, owner of a Marble Hill shopping center that includes a Target store, to prohibit ICE from using the parking lot as a staging point for its operations. The store is located less than a quarter mile from the scene of the shooting.
While federal agents remain in control of the investigation, authorities have not yet publicly clarified where the wounded man was taken after being taken from the hospital or what motivated the shooting. Elected officials and immigrant organizations demand answers on both aspects of the operation.
-Translation and editing Karmina L. Fonseca
