TL;DR: A federal immigration agent shot and wounded 28-year-old Oscar Belgal during a targeted arrest in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood on Thursday, October 8, 2026. Belgal’s 5-year-old son was in the back seat and was not hurt. The shooting has set off a fierce clash between New York City’s mayor and the Trump administration.
Just after 4 p.m. on Thursday, October 8, gunfire erupted outside 2 Marble Hill Avenue in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood — a tiny sliver of the borough that sits physically on the Bronx mainland. An officer with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement discharged his weapon into a vehicle during an arrest operation, wounding the driver while a 5-year-old boy sat in the back seat.
It is the first shooting involving ICE agents in New York City since President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdown began, and it has already drawn furious responses from the city’s top elected officials.
What happened on Marble Hill Avenue
According to the Department of Homeland Security, ICE officers were conducting a “targeted enforcement operation” to arrest a man from the Dominican Republic when, in the agency’s words, “an ICE officer discharged his weapon and the criminal illegal alien was injured.” Federal authorities have not explained what led up to the shooting.
The officer involved is part of ICE’s Enforcement and Removal Operations and was wearing a body camera, according to a government official. That footage has not been released.
A witness who works at a nearby restaurant told the Associated Press he heard three or four gunshots, then saw a man on the ground surrounded by officers wearing face masks and vests with Department of Homeland Security branding. Bystanders were screaming, he said. Demonstrators later gathered at the scene chanting “ICE off our streets now!”
The NYPD said it was not involved in the incident and was not at the scene when it happened. Officers later transported the wounded man to a hospital, where he was conscious and receiving treatment.
Who was shot — and the child in the car
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch identified the wounded man as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal. He suffered a graze wound to the neck that was not considered life-threatening, according to a law enforcement source.
DHS described Belgal as a “criminal illegal alien” with a prior grand larceny conviction and multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, drug possession and weapons possession, and alleged ties to the Trinitarios gang. The agency said the NYPD arrested him in December 2023 but released him — blaming what it called “reckless sanctuary policies.” Those characterizations come from DHS statements; the agency has not detailed what prompted the officer to fire.
Most alarming: a 5-year-old boy, believed to be Belgal’s son, was sitting in the back seat when the agent fired into the vehicle. “Thank God that child is physically unharmed,” Mayor Zohran Mamdani told reporters. The child was located safe and placed in the care of family members.
Mamdani’s clash with the White House
The shooting triggered an extraordinary public confrontation. Mamdani called the incident “unconscionable and incredibly serious” and said he spent roughly two hours on the phone with President Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin negotiating for Belgal’s release. “Those negotiations were unsuccessful,” he said — ICE took the wounded man from NYPD custody into an unmarked federal vehicle late Thursday night.
Mamdani demanded ICE halt all enforcement actions in the city: “I will not stand by while ICE agents terrorize our communities. Get ICE out of our neighborhoods. Get ICE out of our hospitals. Get ICE off our streets. Get ICE away from our children.” He ended an earlier post with two words: “Abolish ICE.”
Governor Kathy Hochul called for federal authorities to release more information: “New Yorkers are outraged tonight. Immigrant communities are terrified. And we are demanding answers.”
Unanswered questions
What prompted the officer to fire remains unknown — whether Belgal was armed, what transpired in the moments before the shots, and what the body camera recorded. DHS said officers “immediately rendered aid” and confirmed the man is alive at a hospital.
The shooting lands amid a national debate over enforcement tactics. The Trump administration has made mass deportations a centerpiece of its second term, and the crackdown has continued — though less visibly — after two separate fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January drew national scrutiny.
Sources: CNN, USA Today, New York Post, Associated Press, Wall Street Journal
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was shot by the ICE agent in New York City?
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch identified him as 28-year-old Oscar Belgal, a native of the Dominican Republic. He suffered a graze wound to the neck that was not life-threatening and was hospitalized.
Where did the shooting happen?
Just after 4 p.m. on October 8, 2026, outside 2 Marble Hill Avenue in Marble Hill — a small section of Manhattan on the Bronx mainland, across the Harlem River.
Was the 5-year-old in the car hurt?
No. The boy, believed to be Belgal’s son, was in the back seat when the agent fired but was not injured. He was located safe and placed with family members.
Why did the ICE officer shoot?
Authorities have not said. DHS stated only that an officer discharged his weapon during a targeted enforcement operation. The officer wore a body camera; footage has not been released.
What does DHS allege about Belgal?
DHS called him a “criminal illegal alien” with a prior grand larceny conviction, multiple prior arrests for assault, robbery, drugs and weapons, and alleged Trinitarios gang ties — and said the NYPD released him after a December 2023 arrest.
How did Mayor Mamdani respond?
He called the shooting “unconscionable,” spent two hours on the phone with Trump and DHS Secretary Mullin seeking Belgal’s release, then demanded ICE end all enforcement in NYC, writing “Abolish ICE.”
Is this the first ICE shooting in NYC?
Per CNN, it is the first involving ICE agents in the city since Trump’s immigration crackdown began, following two fatal shootings of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis in January.
Where is Oscar Belgal now?
After hospital treatment, he was transferred from NYPD custody into ICE custody late Thursday night and taken away in an unmarked vehicle with blacked-out windows.
