Immigration Agents Shot New York Man in Face During Attempted Deportation

US immigration officers in New York shot a man in the face on Thursday as they were attempting to deport another man, who they believed to be in the country illegally.

Shots rang out around 8.15am in the Bensonhurst neighborhood of Brooklyn as immigration enforcement officers tried to arrest Gasper Avendano-Hernandez, a Mexican national who Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) officials say had been deported twice before.

The New York Post reports that the shooting victim is 26-year-old Erick Diaz, who said his mother was in a relationship with Avendano-Hernandez. The consul general of Mexico in New York said Diaz was in the country legally, according to the New York Daily News.

According a witness at the scene, ICE officers tackled Avendano-Hernandez as he attempted to enter a home to grab a work tool he’d forgotten.

Diaz intervened, and in the ensuing scuffle an officer’s service weapon went off, firing a bullet through Diaz’s hand and into his face. His injuries are not believed to be not life-threatening.

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Immigration officials also detailed Avendano-Hernandez’s criminal record, which includes a 2011 conviction for assault.

Earlier this week, police arrested Avendano-Hernandez for reportedly driving a car with forged Connecticut license plates. They released him before Ice could issue an order to hold him for deportation.

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