HOUSTON \u2013 Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was not the intended target in an ICE enforcement operation that ended with Salgado Araujo being fatally shot on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Sylvia Garcia\u2019s office told KPRC 2 Thursday.<\/p>\n
The information comes around the same time the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) released a new statement Thursday following the shooting death of Salgado Araujo by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in east Houston on July 7.<\/p>\n
In the statement, DHS says their officers were conducting surveillance at a suspect\u2019s address after receiving a credible tip from law enforcement partners.<\/p>\n
During the surveillance weeks prior to the shooting, DHS says officers noted two white vans on the property.<\/p>\n
DHS says the traffic stop that ended in the shooting of Salgado Araujo on Tuesday was initiated after officers saw a white van with a person who resembled a suspect they were watching.<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter receiving a credible tip from our law enforcement partners, our officers conducted surveillance on a target\u2019s address. Weeks prior to the incident, they noted two white vans at the property. On July 7, officers were almost at the target\u2019s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop,\u201d the statement reads.<\/p>\n
Background on the shooting<\/p>\n
According to ICE, the shooting happened around 6:50 a.m. Tuesday in the 6800 block of Canal Street while agents were attempting to arrest Salgado Araujo, who ICE identified as an undocumented immigrant from Mexico.<\/p>\n
ICE officials said Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and attempted to run over an ICE agent, prompting \u201cour officer firing his weapon in self-defense.\u201d Salgado Araujo was later pronounced dead at Ben Taub Hospital.<\/p>\n
Family members and civil rights advocates have disputed portions of the federal account and are calling for an independent, transparent investigation into the shooting.<\/p>\n
DHS says officers had not been issued body cameras<\/p>\n
In a separate statement released Thursday, DHS said the officers involved had not yet received their body-worn cameras and blamed government shutdowns they say delayed funding for that equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe officers involved in the incident in Houston had not been issued body-worn cameras due to back-to-back Democrat shutdowns,\u201d DHS said. \u201cThe process of purchasing and issuing body-worn cameras to all of our ICE field offices was interrupted by the Democrats multiple government shutdowns. Body cameras have been deployed to more than half the field offices with the remaining half to receive them in the next 60 days.\u201d<\/p>\n
The department said equipping ICE officers with body cameras has been a priority and cited what it described as a sharp increase in assaults on agents.<\/p>\n
\u201cProviding our ICE law enforcement officers with body cameras has been a priority for DHS — especially as our officers are facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them,\u201d the agency said. \u201cNow thanks to the Secure America Act, ICE has historic funding to provide law enforcement with the resources they need, including body cameras.\u201d<\/p>\n
The absence of body camera footage means investigators will instead rely on witness statements, physical evidence and other available video, if any exists, to reconstruct what happened.<\/p>\n
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