An officer fatally shot a person who injured an ICE agent during an immigration arrest in the Chicago area Friday, according to federal immigration officials.
A spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement said that officers were conducting a vehicle stop as part of a “targeted law enforcement activity” on Friday morning.
The person being stopped resisted and attempted to drive his vehicle into the officers arresting him, subsequently striking and dragging one of them, ICE said in a statement. “Fearing for his life, the officer discharged his firearm and struck the subject,” ICE said.
Photos and video captured by NBC Chicago showed multiple law enforcement vehicles in Franklin Park, where the shooting occurred.
Both the officer and the driver were taken to a hospital. The driver was pronounced dead at the hospital. The officer sustained severe injuries and is in stable condition, ICE said.
“We are praying for the speedy recovery of our law enforcement officer,” Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement. “He followed his training, used appropriate force, and properly enforced the law to protect the public and law enforcement.”
The Department of Homeland Security identified the driver who was killed as Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez. DHS said in a statement that he was the “target of the enforcement operation” and that he came to the United States “at an unknown date and time.”
DHS accused Villegas-Gonzalez of having “a history of reckless driving.”
The Federal Bureau of Investigations said it was assisting law enforcement officers in response to the incident, NBC Chicago reported.
Villegas-Gonzalez’s death comes on the same week ICE launched its immigration enforcement campaign “Operation Midway Blitz” across the state of Illinois, particularly focusing on Chicago. It was not immediately clear if the enforcement activity that led up to the shooting was part of the campaign.
As part of the campaign, hundreds of ICE agents were expected to use the Great Lakes Naval Base in North Chicago for staging, and a federal immigration facility in suburban Broadview for processing, NBC Chicago reported.
Julia Ainsley contributed.
