A man was shot in the elbow, and a deputy U.S. Marshal was hit in the hand by a ricochet bullet during an immigration enforcement operation in Los Angeles on the morning of Oct. 21, the Department of Homeland Security said.
The shooting occurred in downtown Los Angeles during what the DHS described as a "targeted traffic enforcement stop." Tricia McLaughlin, assistant secretary for public affairs at the DHS, said the U.S. Marshals Service was assisting Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents conducting a traffic stop of a man who had entered the country illegally.
McLaughlin, who noted that the investigation remains ongoing and information was preliminary, said federal immigration agents and the U.S. Marshals Service had pulled the man over using a "standard law enforcement procedure." The man then "weaponized his vehicle and began ramming the law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee," according to McLaughlin.
"Fearing for the safety of the public and law enforcement, our officers followed their training and fired defensive shots," McLaughlin said in a statement on X.
The man was shot in the elbow while attempting to flee from the scene, and the deputy U.S. Marshal was injured by a ricochet bullet, McLaughlin said. Both the deputy marshal and the suspect were transported to the hospital.
