ICE officer fatally shoots man while conducting traffic stop in Houston, agency says

(CNN) — An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and killed a Mexican national while he attempted to evade arrest in Houston on Tuesday, the agency said.

In a statement to CNN, an ICE spokesperson said agents tried to conduct a traffic stop and arrest Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was living in the US without legal permission. The agency claims Salgado Araujo refused to follow several verbal commands and rammed into one of its law enforcement vehicles.

Salgado Araujo “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense,” the statement said, adding that he was later transported to a hospital where he died from his injuries.

The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of the Inspector General is leading an investigation into the shooting, the statement said, noting that the FBI’s Houston field office is investigating a potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

CNN has reached out to DHS-OIG and FBI Houston for more information.

Tuesday’s incident is the second ICE-involved shooting in less than a week and comes amid an uptick in immigration enforcement prompted by President Donald Trump’s sweeping deportation agenda.

Demanding a transparent investigation

Salgado Araujo’s death has brought an outpouring of grief and calls for transparency, with activists and Texas Democratic lawmakers demanding all evidence from the scene be reviewed.

“We demand a full, independent investigation, the immediate release of all available evidence, and accountability for the wrongful death of Lorenzo. The public deserves the truth, and the Salgado family deserves justice,” the League of United Latin American Citizens said in a Tuesday statement.

“ICE has released an initial account, but the facts must be independently and thoroughly investigated, including the circumstances that led to the use of deadly force,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia, whose district includes the area of the incident, said on X.

“All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation,” she said.

Echoing Garcia’s remarks, Rep. Christian Menefee, who represents parts of Houston, said all information gleaned from the investigation must be made public.

“ICE’s actions across the country have caused them to lose the faith and confidence of communities,” he said on X.

Salgado Araujo’s son Ronaldo Salgado took to Facebook to respond to his father’s killing, saying that Salgado Araujo was a “hardworking Mexican man” who worked in construction to provide for his wife and three children.

Having been in the US for nearly 35 years, Salgado Araujo “was in the process of obtaining his work permit through the legal process,” his son said. “He was on his way to work, picking up his workers.”

“My father did not deserve this,” he added. Ronaldo Salgado is expected to hold a news conference Wednesday.

CNN has reached out to Houston Mayor John Whitmire and Houston police for comment.

Several immigration enforcement operations in the US over the last year have resulted in fatalities –– with initial descriptions from authorities of clashes between agents and suspects later contradicted by video evidence.

A federal agent last year shot and killed 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez, a US citizen, during a traffic encounter, to which DHS claimed was in response to the driver’s attempted run over of a fellow agent. It is not clear in footage of the encounter, however, that the vehicle struck the agent.

In January, 37-year-old Renee Good, also a US citizen, was shot in the head by a federal immigration agent during a crackdown in Minneapolis. DHS again claimed Good was trying to hit the agent with her vehicle, which local officials and witnesses disputed.

In May, a former federal agent was arrested and charged with multiple counts of assault and falsely reporting a crime after making false statements under oath regarding the nonfatal shooting of a Venezuelan man in Minneapolis in January.

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