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Two illegal immigrants in suburban Maryland were hospitalized after they allegedly tried to ram their van into vehicles being driven by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents.
Wednesday morning's ICE raid took place in Glen Burnie, Maryland, and ended with the white van slamming into a tree.
According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE agents identified the driver of the van as Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, an illegal migrant from Portugal. The man in the passenger seat was identified as Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, who entered the country illegally from El Salvador.
Officers approached the van and told Sousa-Martins to shut off the engine, but he allegedly refused and attempted to flee.
Sousa-Martins 'weaponized his vehicle and began ramming his van into several ICE vehicles,' according to DHS. 'He then drove his van directly at ICE officers, attempting to run them over.'
At this point, ICE officers fired shots into the van, hitting Sousa-Martins. Shortly after that he crashed the van into a tree between two buildings, which gave Serrano-Esquivel whiplash.
Both men received immediate medical attention and were transported to the hospital in stable condition. They are both expected to recover.
No ICE officers were injured at the scene. The incident remains under investigation.
The Department of Homeland Security said this white van was occupied by two illegal immigrants. The driver, Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins of Portugal, was shot after he allegedly tried to run over ICE agents
The passenger, Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel of El Salvador, was not shot but was injured when the van crashed into a tree. Both men were hospitalized in stable condition
Anne Arundel Council member Allison Pickard was alarmed that shots were fired, given that it was Christmas Eve and children were outside playing in the neighborhood at the time.
'It’s concerning that there was open gunfire in my community involving ICE agents,' Pickard told The Washington Post. 'There’s a waterfall effect to these things happening, no matter who is involved.'
Resident James Hicks told The Baltimore Banner that he heard ICE chased a man from a local Walmart into the neighborhood. Hicks explained that the man drove the van in between two houses before crashing.
The man 'shouldn’t have tried to run them over,' Hicks said.
Maryland Governor Wes Moore said on social media that he was aware of the shooting.
'As information surrounding the incident continues to emerge, we will remain in touch with local officials and are standing by to provide support for the community,' Moore said.
There have been at least nine ICE-involved shootings in the United States since President Donald Trump took office, according to The Trace, a gun violence database.
One of the most high-profile of these shootings took place in October in Chicago, Illinois.
Chicago native Marimar Martinez was shot five times by border patrol agent Charles Exum on October 4, following a collision involving the two and another driver, Anthony Santos Ruiz
Martinez and Ruiz were charged with assault on a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon. The charges have since been dismissed
On October 4, Marimar Martinez was driving around the southwest side warning people that federal immigration agents were coming to the majority Latino neighborhood.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents pursued her, and according to the initial account of the incident by DHS, Martinez was one driving one of the ten cars that rammed into them.
They also accused her of being armed with a semi automatic weapon, which is why the agents said they fired defensive shots.
In court documents, it later emerged that Supervisory Border Patrol Agent Charles Exum shot Martinez five times.
In the criminal complaint against Martinez, prosecutors did not allege that she brandished any sort of weapon, though her defense attorney did acknowledge that she had a legally-owned handgun in her purse at the time of the shooting.
Martinez also denied ramming into the ICE agents, instead, she claimed they sideswiped her.
Martinez and Anthony Santos Ruiz, a 21-year-old man who was caught up in the same confrontation with ICE, faced charges of assaulting a federal officer using a deadly or dangerous weapon. If convicted, they could gone to prison for 20 years at most.
Federal prosecutors filed a motion in November asking the judge to 'dismiss the indictment and exonerate' both Martinez and Ruiz.
The case was dismissed with prejudice, meaning the case cannot be brought again.
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