A federal immigration enforcement operation in Manhattan’s Marble Hill neighborhood ended in gunfire on Thursday afternoon, leaving 28-year-old Oscar Belgal wounded in the neck while a five-year-old child rode in the back seat of his Honda CR-V, according to New York Police Department officials and the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
The shooting unfolded around 4 p.m. near West 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue, a corner of northern Manhattan that is geographically tied to the Bronx. NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch told reporters late Thursday that at least one Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer discharged a weapon seven times, striking Belgal below his left ear as he maneuvered the sport utility vehicle. Tisch said responding city officers found Belgal handcuffed on the ground, rendered aid inside an NYPD vehicle and transported him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where officials described his condition as stable.
What police and DHS say happened
Tisch said Belgal was pulling into a parking space when a plainclothes federal officer approached the front of the SUV with a gun drawn, followed by a second federal agent. Video reviewed by investigators showed the vehicle move forward before the gunfire, she said. The child was located safely and placed with a family member, according to the NYPD.
DHS said in a statement that ICE officers were conducting a “targeted enforcement operation” to arrest Belgal, whom the department identified as a Dominican national. The agency said Belgal had a prior conviction for grand larceny and earlier arrests on charges including assault, robbery and weapons possession, but it did not specify what prompted the officer to open fire. DHS confirmed an officer “discharged his weapon” and said the incident remained under investigation.
Political fallout in New York
The episode quickly became a flashpoint in the city’s fight with the Trump administration over immigration enforcement. Mayor Zohran Mamdani said he spent roughly two hours on the phone with President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin seeking Belgal’s release from ICE custody, a request he said was unsuccessful. Mamdani called the shooting “unconscionable” and said he would press Washington to halt ICE operations in the city.
Governor Kathy Hochul said she spoke with Trump to express outrage on behalf of New Yorkers. Hundreds of demonstrators gathered near the scene and later outside the hospital, chanting for ICE to leave city streets. The FBI said its evidence response team was assisting DHS investigators at the site, where journalists photographed a bullet hole in the SUV’s windshield.
What comes next
NYPD officials stressed that city police were not part of the enforcement action before shots were fired, though uniformed officers responded to 911 calls reporting gunfire at 4:04 p.m. Tisch said federal agents also called for medical assistance. Belgal remained in ICE custody after treatment, according to Mamdani, setting up continued legal and political disputes over how immigration arrests are conducted in dense neighborhoods.
With midterm elections weeks away, the Marble Hill shooting joins a growing list of confrontations between federal agents and local leaders who argue that aggressive street enforcement puts bystanders at risk. Investigators have not released body-camera footage, and neither ICE nor DHS has named the officer involved.