A federal agent fired at a moving vehicle in southern California after the driver refused to roll down his window during an immigration stop and sped off, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said.
The DHS said the driver struck two Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agents as he drove away on Saturday, prompting one agent to fire his weapon “in self-defence”. No one was hit by the bullets. The incident occurred just before 9am in San Bernardino county, east of Los Angeles, during what the DHS described as a “targeted enforcement operation”.
Video footage captured by the driver’s son and son-in-law, who were in the vehicle, shows masked officers wearing vests marked “police” and hats labelled CBP approaching the car and telling the driver to roll down his window. After he refused, the agents smashed windows on both sides. The driver then drove away, with three shots audible on the video. The footage does not show either officer being struck by the vehicle.
The driver, a 43-year-old Mexican national who has been in the US for 23 years and does not have legal status, later called the San Bernardino police department to report that masked men had pulled him over, broke his car window and shot at him. Police officers visited the family’s home and spoke to the driver but left without taking him into custody, citing a California law that prohibits local police from assisting federal officials with immigration enforcement.
The DHS criticised the police department for not arresting the man, calling it “yet another tragic example of California’s pro-sanctuary policies that shield criminals instead of protecting communities”. The incident comes amid an ongoing federal crackdown on illegal immigration in southern California, where raids have sparked protests and the deployment of the national guard and marines in Los Angeles. The administration has also asked the supreme court to lift restrictions on immigration stops and arrests imposed by a lower court.
