ICE agent shoots dead Mexican driver in Texas during vehicle stop, agency says

By Steve Gorman and Kristina Cooke

7 Jul (Reuters) - A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and killed a driver in Houston on Tuesday during officers' attempt to stop the man's vehicle, according to an ICE statement.

The dead man was identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, described by ICE as a Mexican citizen and "illegal alien" who attempted to evade arrest during a "targeted enforcement operation" carried out by federal immigration agents.

Ronaldo Salgado, who identified himself as the son of the dead driver, told Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that his father was shot while looking for workers to hire in the area.

According to ICE's account of the incident, Salgado "rammed into an ICE police vehicle, refused to obey several verbal commands, and used his vehicle as a weapon in an attempt to run over an ICE agent." The confrontation resulted in "our officer firing his weapon in self-defense," striking the driver, who was taken to a hospital where he died from his injuries, ICE said.

Reuters was unable to immediately verify the man's immigration status or the circumstances of the shooting.

In several cases over the past year, immigration enforcement agencies' initial statements have been challenged by video footage or other evidence, sometimes in court.

In October, a Chicago-area woman, Marimar Martinez, was accused of ramming law enforcement officers with her car. She was shot five times, but survived. The charges against her were eventually dropped, and video footage suggested that the officers themselves may have crashed into her vehicle.

Neither the FBI nor the Department of Homeland Security, which is responsible for ICE, immediately responded to Reuters' requests for comment on Tuesday's incident.

(Reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Kanishka Singh in Washington)

Source: Antena 1