By Steve Gorman and Kristina Cooke
July 7 (Reuters) - A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a motorist in Houston on Tuesday during an attempt by officers to stop the man's vehicle, according to an ICE statement.
The man shot to death was identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, described by ICE as a Mexican national and "illegal alien" who attempted to evade arrest during a "targeted enforcement operation" by federal immigration officers.
Ronaldo Salgado, who identified himself as the son of the slain motorist, told the Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that his father was shot while he was in the process of seeking workers for hire in the area.
According to the ICE account of the incident, Salgado "rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer." The confrontation resulted in "our officer firing his weapon in self-defense," striking the driver, who was transported to a hospital where he died of his injuries, ICE said.
Reuters could not immediately verify the man's immigration status or the circumstances of the shooting.
In several instances over the past year, initial statements from immigration enforcement agencies have been challenged by video footage or other evidence, sometimes in court.
In October, a Chicago-area woman, Marimar Martinez, was accused of ramming law enforcement officers with her car. She was shot five times but survived. Charges against her were ultimately dropped and video evidence suggested that the agents could have struck her vehicle themselves.
Neither the FBI nor ICE's parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, immediately responded to Reuters' requests for comment on Tuesday's incident.
(Writing and reporting by Steve Gorman in Los Angeles; Additional reporting by Kristina Cooke in San Francisco and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio)
