2 injured, including a US marshal, after an ICE agent’s weapon discharged during LA immigration enforcement operation
KABC, KCAL, KCBS, CNN
By Josh Campbell, CNN
Los Angeles (CNN) — Two people were injured, including a US marshal, during an immigration enforcement operation early Tuesday in Los Angeles, the Department of Homeland Security said.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent’s weapon discharged when the agent tried to grab an individual who apparently rammed into a vehicle that was part of a team of ICE and US marshals engaged in immigration enforcement, a law enforcement source tells CNN.
The suspect’s condition is not currently known. The law enforcement source previously told CNN the suspect was “gravely wounded.”
The US marshal who was injured in the incident is currently in stable condition, the US Marshals Central District of California confirmed in a statement.
The FBI is investigating the incident, another law enforcement source told CNN.
DHS said the incident took place during a “targeted enforcement traffic stop” and that the suspect “had previously escaped from custody.”
“ICE law enforcement officers, assisted by U.S. Marshals, pulled the illegal alien over in a standard law enforcement procedure. The illegal alien weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee,” the agency said in a statement. “Fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement, our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots. The illegal alien was shot in the elbow and one law enforcement officer was shot in the hand by a ricochet bullet. Both are in the hospital.”
Investigators believe gunfire erupted after an ICE officer confronted the suspect’s vehicle and smashed a window with their service weapon, the law enforcement source said. While attempting to grab the suspect, authorities believe the agent’s weapon discharged, striking both the suspect and a deputy US marshal.
The suspect, identified as 44-year-old Carlitos Ricardo Parias, was charged with assault on a federal officer for “ramming law enforcement vehicles in an attempt to dislodge his car during an immigration arrest,” according to the Justice Department. He is expected to appear in the US district court on Thursday in Los Angeles, the agency said.
The suspect has a TikTok page where he records law enforcement activity in communities, his lawyer Carlos Jurado told CNN affiliate KCAL. On Tuesday morning, the suspect recorded DHS activity outside his residence, his attorney said, adding: “Somehow, in the process of him recording, he was impacted by by a bullet in one of his extremities. We’re not sure where the bullet is, what his condition is, because no one has told us anything.”
“He’s a very pacifist man. He’s very calm. A lot of the police officers here know him. They know that he’s very respectful,” Jurado told KCAL.
CNN has reached out to the Los Angeles Police Department for more information.
This story has been updated with additional information.
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CNN’s Emma Tucker, Lauren Mascarenhas, Chimaine Pouteau and Priscilla Alvarez contributed to this report.
