Published : 09 Oct 2026, 09:06 PM
Updated : 09 Oct 2026, 09:06 PM
US immigration officials on Friday defended federal agents who shot and wounded a New York City man in his car while his five-year-old son was in the back seat, prompting the city's mayor, Zohran Mamdani, to condemn the incident as an “outrage”.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said officers did not know the child was in the car when they opened fire. He accused the man, identified as Oscar Belgal, of endangering officers and the child by using his vehicle as a weapon.
The shooting took place on Thursday afternoon in Marble Hill, a residential neighbourhood, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers attempted to arrest Belgal. Senior ICE official Marcos Charles said Belgal refused to leave his car, accelerated into two ICE vehicles and drove towards other officers before they fired.
Belgal suffered a superficial wound to his neck and is being held at a detention facility outside New York state, Charles said. US officials said he was in the country illegally and had a criminal record, including a grand larceny conviction that resulted in five years of probation in April 2025.
New York police said Belgal was also arrested on drug charges in 2025, a case that remains pending.
Video of the shooting, including body camera footage, has not been made public. Mullin said the footage would eventually be released. In previous incidents, initial accounts from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security have been contradicted by video and other evidence, sometimes in court.
Mamdani Criticises ICE Operations
Mamdani, speaking at the scene on Thursday, said he had unsuccessfully sought Belgal’s release in calls with President Donald Trump and Mullin.
“These actions are making the city less safe,” Mamdani said, calling for ICE to leave the city’s streets, schools and hospitals and stay away from children.
Mullin responded on Friday by criticising Mamdani and New York’s “sanctuary” policies, which limit cooperation between city agencies and police and federal immigration authorities. He argued that those policies had allowed Belgal to remain on the streets rather than be handed over to federal agents.
The shooting has intensified tensions between federal immigration officials and New York City leaders over enforcement operations and the city’s approach to cooperating with ICE.
