ICE shooting in New York leaves man wounded as police and federal accounts differ

Oscar Belgal, 28, was shot in the neck in Marble Hill while a 5-year-old child was in his car. Mayor Zohran Mamdani called for ICE operations in the city to stop.

A federal immigration officer shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal during an operation in New York’s Marble Hill neighborhood on October 8. Belgal was wounded in the neck, survived and was taken to a hospital. A 5-year-old child in the car was unharmed and placed with a relative, city police said.

New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Belgal was pulling into a parking space when two plainclothes federal officers approached. When the car began moving forward, one officer fired seven shots, she said. A police security camera captured part of the events before the shooting but not the gunfire. The New York Police Department was not involved in the operation.

The Department of Homeland Security initially said only that an ICE officer fired during a targeted enforcement operation and that the suspect received medical care. The next day, ICE official Marcos Charles said agents had blocked in the car and that Belgal drove toward officers. The agency said officers believed they and the public were in danger. That account differs from Tisch’s public reconstruction.

Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the shooting and said he unsuccessfully urged President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to release the wounded man and suspend immigration operations in the city. Residents and local officials protested near the scene and the hospital. Police reported several arrests after clashes near barricades.

ICE said it was seeking Belgal in a targeted operation. The Associated Press, citing city and federal records, reported that he had a grand larceny conviction and a pending case involving a drug-sale charge. He pleaded not guilty to the latter. Authorities have not publicly released further details about the shooting investigation.