An ICE Agent Shot a Brooklyn Man in the Face, Reports Say

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A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent reportedly shot a man in the face while trying to serve a deportation order in Brooklyn Thursday morning.

The agent was attempting to arrest and deport Gaspar Avendano-Hernandez, a 33-year-old man who immigration officials described as having been “twice-removed” from the United States. The agent managed to approach Avendano-Hernandez Thursday as he was returning home from work with Kevin Yanez-Cruz, the 19-year-old son of his girlfriend and a co-worker, according to the New York Daily News.

While the agent was serving the deportation order, Yanez-Cruz’s mother came running out of the home with her other son, 26-year-old Eric Diaz-Cruz, according to the Daily News. Some sort of altercation took place — the Daily News and local station WABC described it as a “scuffle,” while an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to VICE News that it was a “physical attack” — and an agent reportedly shot Diaz-Cruz in the face. Yanez-Cruz told the Daily News his older brother was unarmed.

Diaz-Cruz survived the shooting and is being treated at a local hospital.

During the chaos, Avendano-Hernandez ran back into the home and barricaded himself indoors but later surrendered, according to the Daily News.

Avendano-Hernandez, meanwhile, was taken into custody, along with another unnamed person. He was allegedly arrested earlier this week for “possession of a forged instrument,” an ICE spokesperson said in a statement to VICE News.

“Two ICE officers were transported to a local hospital for treatment,” the ICE spokesperson said. “This incident is being investigated by the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General. Additional details are not available at this time.”

The agency also said Avendano-Hernandez is a Mexican national with a 2011 assault conviction. But Avendano-Hernandez hadn’t been arrested since 2016, according to the Daily News, and he was stopped by police earlier this week for allegations of a forged license plate.

Cover image: In this Nov. 16, 2018, file photo, an immigrant who entered the United States illegally is checked before boarding a deportation flight to El Salvador by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Houston. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip, File)