Man Shot By ICE Agent During Arrest Attempt In Belmont Central
By Stephen Gossett in News on Mar 27, 2017 4:54PM
A man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency agent on Monday morning during an arrest attempt, according to an ICE spokesperson.
Chicago police responded to a call of shots fired at around 6:30 a.m. on Monday morning in the 6100 block of West Grand Avenue, in Belmont Central, where Department of Homeland Security agents were conducting a "federal enforcement initiative," police said.
ICE agents were trying to arrest someone when a second person pointed a weapon at agents, according to a statement from ICE spokesperson Carl Rusnok. The man, 53, was wounded in the left arm and taken to Stroger Hospital in serious condition, police said.
A statement from police further said, "CPD officers did not participate in the federal initiative today but officers responded quickly to the shooting involving the federal agent. CPD will investigate the underlying criminal offense and work in collaboration with DHS and the United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois."
ICE did not comment further, stating that the shooting is under review, per agency policy. "Any time an ICE officer or special agent discharges their firearm in the line of duty, the ICE Office of Professional Responsibility reviews the matter," the agency's statement read. "Due to this ongoing review, no further details will be released at this time.”
The Tribune reports that sources said the wounded 53-year-old man is the father of the person who was targeted for arrest by ICE.
Family claims that the victim, identified by relatives as Felix Torres, was not armed and that the family has lived there legally for three decades, according to reports.
"My dad doesn't have any guns, my dad just went to see what's going on," the victim's daughter, Carmen Torres, told NBC. "He just opened the door and they just shot him."
Ald. Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th Ward) came out strongly against the shooting on Monday. "ICE routinely violates the American people's constitutional rights," he said in a statement. "This guns blazing ICE raid deepens my resolve to organize my community so we can keep each other safe from the threat posed by ICE."