Federal agents and other law enforcement make their way through a crowd of residents while investigating a shooting involving another federal agent on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
A federal immigration agent shot at a suspect during a targeted operation in South L.A. on Wednesday morning, drawing a crowd of protesters to the shut-down street and intensifying safety concerns in the immigrant heavy community.
A federal agent opened fire at a man after he rammed federal law enforcement with his vehicle while attempting to evade arrest during an immigration operation in Compton, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The man was not wounded, but a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent sustained unspecified injuries.
At 7:05 a.m., Homeland Security officers conducted an operation to apprehend William Eduardo Moran Carballo, a citizen of El Salvador who is accused of being in the U.S. illegally and “participating in a human smuggling operation,” according to a department spokesperson.
A federal agent walks past a bullet-shattered window of a car involved in a no-hit shooting on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
In an attempt to flee, Carballo “weaponized his vehicle” and rammed law enforcement, who fired at Carballo in defense, the spokesperson said.
Carballo was not hit and tried to run but was apprehended by law enforcement, according to the spokesperson. He has two prior arrests for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and was ordered removed by a judge in 2019, the spokesperson said.
After the shooting, officers with the California Highway Patrol arrived to investigate the crash — located at 126th Street and Mona Boulevard in Willowbrook — while sheriff’s deputies provided traffic control.
The incident unfolded two blocks from a middle school.
“It feels reckless,” neighbor Miguel Carrillo said. “There’s kids who walk to school here.”
Carrillo, 40 and his wife, Flor, 35, were in the back of their house on 126th street, getting ready to drop their kids off at school when they heard a loud bang that sounded like a car accident.
The couple said they made their way to the front and saw a white van parked outside their home, filled with federal immigration agents. Carrillo said he was later approached by an FBI agent who was canvassing the area for witnesses and video that may have captured the shooting.
A spokesperson for the FBI confirmed that the agency was investigating the federal agent-involved shooting with their partners at Homeland Security. Personnel from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were also deployed to assist with the investigation, according to an ATF spokesperson.
By 10 a.m., a crowd of more than 50 people, including local residents and protesters, had gathered near the scene of the incident.
A silver BMW with a smashed-in black hood sat at the end of the driveway of a green stucco house on 126th Street. The Carillos said they saw a large hole in the rear window of the car and a small hole in the front windshield above the passenger seat.
Several federal agents stood in the street, some dressed in plainclothes and others in tactical gear with masks.
Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement ask a car to make room for a police vehicle to pass while investigating a shooting involving a federal agent in Willowbrook. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
As observers meandered in the area after the crash, one woman shouted, “Let’s see your ugly face,” to a federal agent, while another person driving by slowed down to yell, “F— you,” out the window.
Residents who wandered out of their homes and a nearby apartment complex stood in their yards recording the agents with their cellphones. One man with a bullhorn cursed at immigration agents at the intersection, while another person waved the Mexican flag.
Assemblymember Mike Gipson (D-Carson) issued a statement condemning federal law enforcement’s use of gunfire in his district.
“ICE and CBP must extricate themselves from our home,” said Gipson. “I’m pissed as I ask: How many more shots need to be fired? How many more agents need to bring their reckless gunplay into our safe spaces?”
Wednesday was not the first time agents have opened fire during immigration enforcement operations in California.
In October,
ICE officers opened fire twice in two separate incidents, one in South L.A. and the other in Ontario. A Homeland Security spokesperson said, in both cases, that officers were in fear for their lives and fired “defensive shots.”
However, body cam footage obtained by The Times of the South L.A. shooting
raised questions about the seconds leading up to the gunfire, which wounded the target of the operation and a deputy U.S. marshal hit by a ricochet bullet.
Homeland Security officials accused Carlitos Ricardo Parias of weaponizing his car and ramming a law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee in that incident. But at the time that the ICE officer fired, Parias’ car did not appear to be moving.
Spectators film and observe federal agents as they investigate a shooting involving a fellow agent on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
Last week an
NBC investigation found that Homeland Security personnel shot 11 people during immigration operations since September. In the majority of the shootings, officers fired into vehicles.
In a statement on Wednesday’s operation, a department spokesperson said officers are facing a dramatic increase in vehicle attacks.
Among those who stood at the intersection near Wednesday’s incident was Joanna Cristobal, 30, who said she woke up and learned about the shooting on TikTok.
“I feel like I want to cry,” she said, gazing at the agents. “I hate to see them taking our people. I want them out of here.”
One woman was escorted out of 16th Street after she began yelling at agents. The crowd became angry as sheriff’s deputies attempted to push the crowd across Mona Boulevard.
“We’re not gonna move,” a man with a bullhorn yelled.
A deputy assured people they could still continue to record and that they wouldn’t block their view. Ultimately, the crowd stayed put and news cameras were allowed to return to their original spot.
The group began to cheer and chant “ICE out of L.A.”
