Police identify man shot by ICE during raid in Marble Hill, New York; Mamdani unsuccessfully appeals to Trump for his release
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch detailed Belgal's local criminal history, which includes two arrests in the city, a 2023 guilty plea for fourth-degree theft and five years of probation, and a 2025 case involving drug sales that remains pending.
ICE agents in Ventura, California—File photo
The New York Police Department (NYPD) identified Oscar Belgal, 28, last night as the man shot during an ICE operation in Marble Hill, in northern Manhattan.
Commissioner Jessica Tisch said that at least one federal agent fired seven shots and that Belgal was struck in the neck, below his left ear. According to the commissioner, the man was in stable condition upon arrival at New York-Presbyterian Allen Hospital. On Friday, a senior ICE official said the wound was superficial and that Belgal is being held outside New York State.
For his part, Mayor Zohran Mamdani stated that he spent about two hours on the phone with President Donald Trump and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin to negotiate Belgal's release. However, the effort was unsuccessful.
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Police identify the injured man
Jessica Tisch detailed at a press conference Belgal's local criminal history, including two arrests in the city, a 2023 guilty plea for fourth-degree theft and five years of probation, and a 2025 case involving drug sales that remains pending.
The commissioner also said that the police body cameras did not record the shooting. According to her account, the footage does show Belgal behind the wheel of a gray Honda CR-V, backing up to park, when a federal agent in plain clothes approached the driver's window with his gun drawn and another agent positioned himself in front of the vehicle. The car moved forward and drove out of the frame. At least seven shell casings were recovered at the scene. The commissioner attributed those seven shots to at least one ICE agent.
The shooting occurred around 4:00 p.m. on Thursday on Marble Hill Avenue, near West 225th Street, a section of Manhattan bordering the Bronx.
Tisch said that local police did not participate in the operation and that there were no municipal officers at the scene when shots were fired; they arrived only afterward to provide assistance and transport the wounded man.
The investigation was turned over to federal authorities, with the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations taking charge of the case.
A child in the back seat
A five-year-old boy, whom police believe to be Belgal's son, was in the back seat and was unharmed. Tisch said he was placed in the care of a relative.
Mamdani had previously stated that initial reports indicated that agents surrounded the vehicle—in which the man and the child were traveling—before opening fire, and that the agents were wearing construction vests and masks. "There was no reasonable way to identify them as ICE agents," he said.
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What the federal government says
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this was a targeted operation to arrest an undocumented immigrant from the Dominican Republic with a prior conviction for grand larceny and several arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession. It added that he has ties to the Trinitarios gang, the same group that, according to the department, shot and killed a Border Patrol agent (CBP) last year.
The department also said that Belgal was arrested by the New York Police Department on December 7, 2023, and released a few days later, and blamed "sanctuary city" policies.
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According to a report from the New York Post (NYP), this Friday, Marcos Charles, head of ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, gave the federal account of the shooting. He said that agents attempted to block his path with their vehicles, that Belgal refused to get out, and that he accelerated, crashed into two ICE vehicles, and "weaponized his vehicle" by driving it toward other agents. They then opened fire.
The New York Police Department has not confirmed this information. The department did not explain why shots were fired. It said that an agent fired his weapon, that agents immediately provided assistance, and that the injured person was still alive. The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations are handling the case.
Initial reports of two injured federal agents, one possibly in a traffic accident, do not appear in Tisch's account.
The call to Trump
Mamdani said last night that he spent about two hours on the phone with Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin to negotiate Belgal's release. "Those negotiations were unsuccessful," he said. He added that, moments before the court appearance, ICE removed the injured man from the hospital in an unmarked vehicle.
The mayor demanded an end to ICE operations in the city and said the agency "must be abolished." Governor Kathy Hochul said she also spoke with Trump and Mullin, asking them to halt operations in New York and demanding the release of any body camera footage. Mullin responded that the footage would be released. It has not yet been made public.
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