![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769041509_480_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nA federal immigration agent shot at a suspect during a targeted operation in South L.A. on Wednesday morning, drawing a crowd of protesters to the shut-down street and intensifying safety concerns in the immigrant heavy community. <\/p>\n
A federal agent opened fire at a man after he rammed federal law enforcement with his vehicle while attempting to evade arrest during an immigration operation in Compton, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The man was not wounded, but a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent sustained unspecified injuries. <\/p>\n
At 7:05 a.m., Homeland Security officers conducted an operation to apprehend William Eduardo Moran Carballo, a citizen of El Salvador who is accused of being in the U.S. illegally and \u201cparticipating in a human smuggling operation,\u201d according to a department spokesperson.<\/p>\n
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A federal agent walks past a bullet-shattered window of a car involved in a no-hit shooting on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook.<\/p>\n
(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
In an attempt to flee, Carballo \u201cweaponized his vehicle\u201d and rammed law enforcement, who fired at Carballo in defense, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
Carballo was not hit and tried to run but was apprehended by law enforcement, according to the spokesperson. He has two prior arrests for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and was ordered removed by a judge in 2019, the spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
After the shooting, officers with the California Highway Patrol arrived to investigate the crash \u2014 located at 126th Street and Mona Boulevard in Willowbrook \u2014 while sheriff\u2019s deputies provided traffic control. <\/p>\n
The incident unfolded two blocks from a middle school.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt feels reckless,\u201d neighbor Miguel Carrillo said. \u201cThere\u2019s kids who walk to school here.\u201d<\/p>\n
Carrillo, 40 and his wife, Flor, 35, were in the back of their house on 126th Street, getting ready to drop their kids off at school when they heard a loud bang that sounded like a car accident.<\/p>\n
The couple said they made their way to the front and saw a white van parked outside their home, filled with federal immigration agents. Carrillo said he was later approached by an FBI agent who was canvassing the area for witnesses and video that may have captured the shooting. <\/p>\n
A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed that the agency was investigating the federal agent-involved shooting with their partners at Homeland Security. Personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also deployed to assist with the investigation, according to an ATF spokesperson. <\/p>\n
By 10 a.m., a crowd of more than 50 people, including local residents and protesters, had gathered near the scene of the incident. <\/p>\n
A silver BMW with a smashed-in black hood sat at the end of the driveway of a green stucco house on 126th Street. The Carillos said they saw a large hole in the rear window of the car and a small hole in the front windshield above the passenger seat.<\/p>\n
Several federal agents stood in the street, some dressed in plainclothes and others in tactical gear with masks.<\/p>\n
![\"Border](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769041510_412_.jpeg\")
<\/p>\n
Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement ask a car to make room for a police vehicle to pass while investigating a shooting involving a federal agent in Willowbrook.<\/p>\n
(Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n
As observers meandered in the area after the crash, one woman shouted, \u201cLet\u2019s see your ugly face,\u201d to a federal agent, while another person driving by slowed down to yell, \u201cF\u2014 you,\u201d out the window.<\/p>\n
Residents who wandered out of their homes and a nearby apartment complex stood in their yards recording the agents with their cellphones. One man with a bullhorn cursed at immigration agents at the intersection, while another person waved the Mexican flag.<\/p>\n
Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) issued a statement condemning federal law enforcement\u2019s use of gunfire in his district.<\/p>\n
\u201cICE and CBP must extricate themselves from our home,\u201d said Gipson. \u201cI\u2019m pissed as I ask: How many more shots need to be fired? How many more agents need to bring their reckless gunplay into our safe spaces?\u201d<\/p>\n
Wednesday was not the first time agents have opened fire during immigration enforcement operations in California.<\/p>\n
In October, ICE officers opened fire twice<\/a> in two separate incidents, one in South L.A. and the other in Ontario. A Homeland Security spokesperson said, in both cases, that officers were in fear for their lives and fired \u201cdefensive shots.\u201d<\/p>\n However, body cam footage obtained by The Times of the South L.A. shooting raised questions<\/a> about the seconds leading up to the gunfire, which wounded the target of the operation and a deputy U.S. marshal hit by a ricochet bullet.<\/p>\n Homeland Security officials accused Carlitos Ricardo Parias of weaponizing his car and ramming a law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee in that incident. But at the time that the ICE officer fired, Parias\u2019 car did not appear to be moving.<\/p>\n Spectators film and observe federal agents as they investigate a shooting involving a fellow agent on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook.<\/p>\n (Genaro Molina \/ Los Angeles Times)<\/p>\n![\"Spectators](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/1769041510_460_.jpeg\")
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