An illegal immigrant, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, was shot and killed in Houston on July 7 after he allegedly attempted to ram U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers with his vehicle during a traffic stop.

According to an ICE spokesperson, officers were conducting a traffic stop for Araujo, a Mexican citizen, at around 6:50 a.m. when he tried to evade them by "weaponizing his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer, resulting in our officer firing his weapon in self-defense."

An ICE officer opened fire, killing Araujo, the agency confirmed. The FBI is currently investigating the incident.

This event follows a similar incident on July 1, when an ICE agent opened fire on another illegal immigrant, Clemente Lara-Hernandez, who also attempted to ram a vehicle into authorities before crashing into a civilian vehicle.

At the time of the shooting, ICE stated, "Our ICE law enforcement officers are facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults, a 3,300% increase in vehicular attacks, and an 8,000% increase in death threats against them as they put their lives on the line to arrest the worst of the worst."

Sources