Mamdani Condemns ICE Shooting in Marble Hill, Calls for End to Enforcement Actions
New York City Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamadani. Kara McCurdy/Mayoral Photography Office.
NEW YORK — Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani on Thursday condemned the shooting of a New Yorker by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in a residential neighborhood, calling it an “unconscionable” incident. He said the man was in a car with a 5-year-old child when agents fired multiple rounds.
Mamdani said he had called President Donald Trump and would demand an immediate halt to all ICE enforcement actions in New York City, reiterating his call to abolish the agency.
The shooting occurred shortly after 4 p.m. in Marble Hill, a Manhattan neighborhood near West 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue that is geographically connected to the Bronx, according to police and city officials.
Federal immigration agents shot a man during an attempted arrest, according to law enforcement sources. The man was taken to a nearby hospital conscious, with injuries that were not considered life-threatening. Two ICE agents were also injured in the encounter and were receiving treatment at a local hospital.
According to Mamdani’s office, preliminary reports indicated that agents surrounded the man’s car, where a 5-year-old child was also present, before firing multiple rounds. The child, reportedly seated in the back seat, was believed to be physically unharmed.
The New York Police Department said its officers were not involved in the incident and were not at the scene when the shooting occurred. The department later deployed personnel to assist with crowd control and evidence collection.
In a written statement released Thursday evening, Mamdani described the shooting as “an unconscionable and incredibly serious situation” and said he had reached out to Trump.
“I have called the President; when we speak I will demand that he ends all ICE enforcement actions in our city,” Mamdani said. “I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities.”
He concluded his statement with a series of demands and a call to abolish the agency: “Get ICE out of our neighborhoods. Get ICE out of our hospitals. Get ICE off our streets. Get ICE away from our children. Abolish ICE.”
The remarks reflect the mayor’s broader effort to strengthen New York City’s sanctuary policies. His administration has issued an executive order restricting ICE access to city property, including schools, shelters and hospitals, without a judicial warrant.
Federal agents were seeking a person with a prior robbery arrest and an open drug case when the shooting occurred, according to a city official who was briefed on the operation.
The Department of Homeland Security offered a more detailed account of the operation in a statement posted on social media Thursday evening. DHS said ICE officers were conducting a targeted enforcement operation in the Bronx at approximately 4 p.m. to arrest a Dominican man it described as a “criminal illegal alien.”
According to DHS, the man had a prior conviction for grand larceny and multiple prior arrests involving assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession. The department also alleged that he had ties to the Trinitarios gang, which it linked to the shooting of a Customs and Border Protection officer last year.
DHS said the New York Police Department arrested the man on Dec. 7, 2023, but released him into the community a few days later. The department blamed what it called “reckless Democrat sanctuary policies” for his release.
“During the incident, an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured,” DHS said. The department added that ICE officers immediately provided medical assistance and that the man was alive and being treated at a local hospital.
DHS said the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations, the department’s investigative arm, were at the scene and that the incident remained under investigation. The department said it would release additional information as it became available.
In its statement, DHS also criticized sanctuary policies, arguing that the release of people it considers dangerous forces federal officers to make arrests in unpredictable and potentially dangerous public settings. The department said its officers should not have to risk their lives because local officials refuse to cooperate with federal law enforcement. The allegations and DHS’s account of the incident have not been independently verified.
The FBI’s New York Evidence Response Team also responded to the scene to assist federal authorities, the FBI told local media.
Gov. Kathy Hochul condemned the shooting and demanded an immediate explanation from federal authorities, saying the incident had left immigrant communities frightened and New Yorkers outraged.
“New Yorkers are outraged tonight. Immigrant communities are terrified. And we are demanding answers,” Hochul wrote on social media Thursday evening.
Hochul said much remained unknown about the shooting but pointed to initial reports that ICE agents had fired into a vehicle with a 5-year-old child inside.
“Any trained law enforcement officer knows how easily that could have ended in tragedy,” she wrote. The child, she added, appeared to have escaped without physical injury.
“No child should ever have to experience the terror of gunfire, let alone wonder if they’ll make it home alive,” Hochul said. “As a mother and grandmother, I cannot imagine how frightening those moments must have been.”
The governor also sharply criticized the federal agency, accusing it of a pattern of violence and a lack of accountability.
“New Yorkers have witnessed far too many acts of violence by a rogue federal agency and untrained agents that operate with impunity,” she wrote. “Federal authorities need to provide answers, and they must do so immediately.”
In an earlier statement, Hochul said she had been briefed on the afternoon shooting involving federal law enforcement agents in the Bronx and called for a full account of the circumstances.
“We expect federal authorities to provide a full and transparent accounting of the circumstances surrounding this incident,” she said. “New Yorkers deserve to know exactly what happened and why.”
Witnesses told police they heard five to six gunshots and people screaming. Photographs and videos from the scene obtained by news organizations showed plainclothes agents wearing tactical vests detaining a man on the ground.
Protesters soon gathered at the scene, shouting at agents and recording their actions as authorities secured the area.
The shooting comes amid growing tensions between the Trump administration and New York’s Democratic leadership over federal immigration enforcement.
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin criticized Hochul and Mamdani a month earlier for what he described as a lack of cooperation with federal immigration authorities. He vowed that enforcement operations would continue despite resistance from local officials, according to USA Today.
Mamdani’s administration has sought to limit ICE access to city facilities and reinforce sanctuary protections, setting the stage for continued disputes with federal officials over immigration enforcement in the city.
The circumstances surrounding Thursday’s shooting remain under investigation. This report will be updated as additional information becomes available.