A federal agent shot and wounded a man in New York City on Thursday, heightening concerns about immigration enforcement in a city with millions of immigrants.
The man, Oscar Belgal, 28, a Dominican immigrant, was shot in the Marble Hill neighborhood as agents with Immigration and Customs Enforcement tried to arrest him while he was in a car with his 5-year-old son.
The shooting appeared to be the first by ICE in the city since 2020. It elicited swift rebukes from Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who accused the Trump administration of “terrorizing our city.”
On Friday, the Trump administration criticized the city’s sanctuary policies and highlighted Mr. Belgal’s criminal record.
Here’s what to know about the shooting:
What happened?
Mr. Belgal was shot in the neck after at least one ICE agent fired seven rounds at the car, the police said.
His son was not injured and was in the care of a family member late Thursday.
The shooting happened at around 4 p.m. on West 225th Street near Broadway in a predominantly Latino neighborhood at the edge of Manhattan and the Bronx.
The Department of Homeland Security said that the shooting had occurred as the agents tried to arrest an undocumented immigrant with a criminal record.
On Friday, the Police Department released body-worn camera footage from two police officers who had arrived at the scene. The footage showed them picking up Mr. Belgal from the ground and taking him in handcuffs to nearby NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital.
A witness, Viely Herrera, said that she had heard a series of shots and saw an S.U.V. crash into concrete barriers on the street. Mr. Belgal came out of the vehicle holding his neck and shouting in Spanish. The boy was in the back seat crying.
How have federal officials responded?
Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, attacked the city’s sanctuary city policies at a news conference on Friday and lashed out at Mr. Mamdani.
Mr. Mullin repeatedly described Mr. Belgal as a “thug” and “the worst of the worst.” He said that ICE had sought to arrest him because the agency believe he had “indirect or direct knowledge” of a shooting that injured an off-duty customs officer in Manhattan in July 2025.
Mr. Mullin said that Mr. Mamdani’s comments condemning ICE were dangerous and that cities like New York that did not work closely with the agency made the government’s job harder.
ICE personnel were not aware that there was a young child in the vehicle, Mr. Mullin said.
How has the mayor responded?Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he had spent two hours on the phone with President Trump and Markwayne Mullin, the homeland security secretary, trying unsuccessfully to negotiate the release of Mr. Belgal.Credit…Karsten Moran for The New York Times
Mr. Mamdani condemned the shooting at a news conference on Thursday night and called it “an outrage.”
“Tonight, a 5-year-old child sits traumatized and terrified,” the mayor said. “Tonight, millions of our neighbors are wondering whether they will be safe on our streets, in our schools, at their work sites.”
Mr. Mamdani said he had spent two hours on the phone with President Trump and Mr. Mullin, the homeland security secretary, trying unsuccessfully to negotiate the release of Mr. Belgal.
Ms. Hochul said in a statement that she had also spoken with Mr. Trump and Mr. Mullin about the shooting.
“I expressed outrage on behalf of New Yorkers and urged them to halt ICE enforcement operations in New York,” she said.
Who is Oscar Belgal?
We do not know much yet about Mr. Belgal and his life in New York City.
The N.Y.P.D. video showed Mr. Belgal on the ground bleeding and looking distressed. Several men stand nearby, including one in a construction-style vest holding a long gun.
Paige Austin, a lawyer at Make the Road New York, an immigration advocacy group representing Mr. Belgal, said that he was being held in New Jersey, but his lawyers don’t know exactly where.
The police said that Mr. Belgal had pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny and received five years probation and that he was being investigated for the criminal sale of a controlled substance in 2025.
How has the community reacted?
Anti-ICE demonstrators gathered at the scene of the shooting on Thursday and outside the hospital where Mr. Belgal was taken.
The Rev. Emily DeTar Birt, a Unitarian minister, said that several schools were near where the shooting happened.
“This is happening in broad daylight in front of our kids,” she said.
Late on Thursday, tensions flared outside Allen Hospital. Protesters and the police scuffled as officers tried to put up barricades to establish a clear path to and from the building’s entrance.
Protesters chanted “No justice, no peace, we want ICE off our streets.” Some hurled water bottles at the police. At least one person was taken into custody.
Nearly 40 percent of the city’s residents are immigrants, and many New Yorkers have expressed alarm over a rise in ICE activity.
Arrests by immigration agents in New York State rose from 927 in May of this year to 1,193 in June and 1,567 in July, according to federal data compiled by the Deportation Data Project, an academic group.