An ICE agent shot and wounded a man inside his vehicle in New York City's Marble Hill neighborhood on Thursday, October 8, 2026, while a 5-year-old child sat in the back seat. The incident has drawn sharp reactions from city leaders and triggered street protests.
What happened during the ICE operation in Marble Hill
The shooting happened around 4 p.m. Eastern time outside 2 Marble Hill Avenue, near West 225th Street, when federal agents tried to arrest a 28-year-old man from the Dominican Republic, according to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and law enforcement sources. A 5-year-old boy was in the back of the man's SUV at the time. The child was not physically harmed.
DHS said its officers were conducting a "targeted enforcement operation" to arrest the man, whom it described as having a prior criminal conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession. The agency also alleged he has ties to the Trinitarios gang. DHS added that the man was arrested by the NYPD on December 7, 2023, but was released days later, blaming the city's sanctuary policies.
"During the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured," DHS said in a statement posted on X. The agency said officers rendered immediate aid, and the man was taken to a local hospital, where he was conscious and receiving treatment. Sources said he was shot in the neck but is expected to survive. What exactly prompted the gunfire has not been disclosed, and the incident remains under investigation.
The NYPD said city officers were not involved in the operation and were not on scene when the shooting happened. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations agents responded to the scene to investigate, according to DHS. One law enforcement source also said two federal agents were injured in the encounter and were taken to a hospital for treatment.
What officials are saying
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani called the shooting "an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation." He said early reports indicated agents had surrounded the man and the child in the car before firing multiple rounds. "We believe the child was physically unharmed," Mamdani said in a statement posted on X.
Mamdani said he had called President Donald Trump and would demand that all ICE enforcement operations in the city be ended. "I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities," the mayor said, adding that he was praying for the injured man's recovery.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul said she had been briefed on the shooting and expected "a full and transparent accounting" from federal authorities. "New Yorkers deserve to know exactly what happened and why," she said.
Witnesses, protests and investigation
People near the scene described chaos after the gunfire. Pedro Almarez, who works at a restaurant nearby, told Reuters he heard shots and went outside to find several officers wearing ICE attire, with three or four vehicles at the scene. He said NYPD officers arrived about 10 minutes later and that the injured man was only removed from the car after an ambulance arrived. A woman standing on a balcony overlooking the area told officers they were "taking our children," according to a Reuters witness.
On Thursday night, about 300 demonstrators gathered outside NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where the wounded man was being treated, chanting for ICE to leave the city. Protesters briefly clashed with police, and at least one person was arrested, according to the New York Post. Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and congressional nominee Darializa Avila Chevalier also held a press conference near the scene on Thursday evening to condemn the shooting.
The shooting comes amid heightened federal immigration enforcement. CNN reported that the same week, ICE leadership told agents to increase arrests by 1,000 more people daily. The FBI's investigation into the Marble Hill shooting is ongoing, and DHS has not yet released the officer's account of what led to the gunfire.
Watch: Eyewitness News ABC7NY's video report, "Person shot during interaction with ICE agents in Marble Hill," with footage from the scene and official statements.
Music in this post's reel: Kevin MacLeod - Hitman (incompetech.com), licensed under CC BY 3.0
Sources
- New York Post: ICE agent shoots, wounds migrant in NYC with boy, 5, in car
- USA Today: 'Get ICE out': Mamdani calls Trump after feds shoot man near child in NYC
- Reuters: Person wounded in New York shooting involving US Homeland Security agents
- CNN: Man shot by ICE agents during operation in New York City, DHS says
Takeaway: An ICE agent's shooting of a man with a child in the car during a Marble Hill arrest operation has become a flashpoint — with the mayor demanding federal agents leave the city, protesters in the streets, and the facts of the gunfire still under investigation. The Morning Post will update this story as authorities release more details.