New York City man shot in car with child present by ICE agents: Mayor

NEW YORK: US immigration agents shot and wounded a man on Thursday (Oct 8) in his car with a child present in the Marble Hill neighbourhood of New York City, according to the mayor, city police and eyewitnesses.

Federal immigration agents have shot at least 21 people since Republican President Donald Trump returned to office, 7 fatally, sparking protests across the US. Critics contend ​that Trump's push to ramp up deportations has led to an increasing number of violent confrontations, and accuse the administration of resisting accountability for the agents involved.

Trump has said many migrants must be deported, blaming them, often in sweeping terms, for financial fraud and violent crimes.

"Early reports indicate agents surrounded (the man) and a 5-year-old child in his car before firing multiple rounds," New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.

"I have been on the phone with President Trump and (Homeland Security) Secretary Mullin, negotiating the release of the man Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents shot. Those negotiations were unsuccessful," Mamdani said in a press conference late in the evening. He said he demanded from the Trump administration that ICE stop its enforcement actions in New York City.

"These actions are making the city less safe," Mamdani said. "This city wants ICE out. 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."

The mayor said the child in the car is physically unharmed. New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said NYPD has located the child with a family member after a wellness check.

The Department of Homeland Security, ICE's parent agency, said in a statement ICE officers were conducting a "targeted enforcement operation" in the Bronx, New York, to arrest a man from the Dominican Republic with a prior criminal conviction.

The man identified as 28-year-old, had been arrested twice in New York City in 2023 and 2025, according to NYPD Commissioner Tisch.

"During the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured," DHS said, adding that ICE officers rendered immediate aid. "The individual is alive and at a local hospital."

The shooting occurred at around 4pm ET (2000 GMT), DHS said.

Working at a restaurant near the shooting, Pedro Almarez said he heard shots fired and went outside to see several officers wearing ICE attire at the scene.

"There were a lot of ICE officers, three or four cars," Almarez told Reuters by phone. He said NYPD officers arrived about 10 minutes later. He said the man was only removed from his car after an ambulance arrived.

At the shooting scene, where police strung yellow crime-scene tape to cordon off a city block, a woman standing on a balcony overlooking the area told officers they were "taking our children", according to a Reuters witness.