Federal immigration officials now say the Houston man fatally shot by an ICE agent this week was stopped because someone inside his work van “resembled” a person agents were trying to arrest, offering the clearest explanation yet for why Lorenzo Salgado Araujo became involved in an operation that authorities now acknowledge was targeting someone else.
“Weeks prior to the incident, they noted two white vans at the property,” the agency said. “On July 7, officers were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop.”
The statement came after U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia said ICE’s acting director told her Salgado was not the intended target of Tuesday’s operation.
Garcia, whose district includes the area where the shooting occurred, said ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons confirmed to her that Salgado was not the intended target of the operation. In a statement Thursday, Garcia said the admission raises serious questions about the shooting.
“ICE confirmed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not the target,” Garcia said. “Yet he was killed by federal agents in an unmarked vehicle, with no body cam footage, no dash cam footage, and no answers for his family. ICE owes this family the truth.”
The New York Times, citing two people familiar with the investigation, reported the operation was instead targeting two Guatemalan nationals who ultimately were not inside Salgado’s van.
The traffic stop quickly turned deadly.
ICE has said Salgado tried to flee and “weaponized” his van by driving toward an agent, prompting the officer to open fire in self-defense. The agency has not publicly released body-camera footage, surveillance video or other evidence supporting that account. Salgado was shot in the torso and later died at a Houston hospital.
His family and attorneys dispute that account, arguing Salgado may not have realized he was being stopped because the agents were driving unmarked SUVs.
DHS also confirmed Thursday that the ICE agents involved were not wearing body cameras during the encounter.
The shooting has intensified scrutiny of ICE operations in Houston, with Salgado’s family, immigrant advocates and elected officials calling for an independent investigation into what happened during the traffic stop. The Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General is investigating the shooting, while the FBI has opened a separate inquiry.