Wounded New York man remains in federal custody as ICE defends shooting

Tisch said Belgal was pulling into a parking space when two plainclothes federal officers approached, one with a gun drawn. She said the car began moving before at least one officer fired seven rounds. Police were not part of the federal operation, Tisch said, and her account came from the city’s preliminary investigation. PBS News, carrying an AP report, reported her account.

The accounts put the car’s movement at the center of the use-of-force question: what happened between the approach and the gunfire, and what officers perceived at that moment. Charles also described Belgal’s neck injury as superficial.

Tisch said Belgal was the arrest target. She said he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny after a 2023 robbery arrest and received five years of probation. A separate drug-sale charge from 2025 is pending; the Associated Press reported that Belgal pleaded not guilty to it. A prior arrest or a pending charge does not answer whether the shooting was justified.

City video shows the approach, not the shots

Video released by New York City police shows two officers in civilian clothes walking toward the parked car with guns drawn. A separate view captures people reacting and the car stopped nearby with bullet holes. The footage does not show the shooting itself, and the AP reported that it does not resolve whether firing was justified. The AP’s account of the video and ICE’s explanation describes what the footage captures.

Tisch said at least one officer fired seven rounds; ICE officials also said seven shots were fired. The city video offers a view of the approach and aftermath, but not the moment that would allow the public to see how the car moved as shots were fired.

Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said ICE body-camera footage would be released, but gave no date. That footage could add evidence about the officers’ actions and what they saw during the encounter.

A child passenger raises a separate safety question

Police said a child in the car was unharmed. Mullin said officers did not know a child was inside and blamed Belgal for putting the child at risk. His statement is the federal government’s account of what officers knew; the child’s presence makes that question central to any review of how risks to passengers and bystanders were assessed.

The distinction matters beyond the competing accounts of the driver’s movements. An arrest carried out around an occupied vehicle can put passengers and people nearby at risk, making a clear explanation of officers’ decisions important to the community affected by the operation.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani condemned the shooting and said his effort to secure Belgal’s release from federal custody had failed. “There is no justification for what we have seen today,” Mamdani said in remarks reported by PBS News. He also called for ICE operations in the city to end.

Lawyers found Belgal in Brooklyn after losing contact

Belgal’s lawyers said they could not locate him for nearly a day after the shooting. Charles said Friday that Belgal had been taken to an out-of-state detention facility; his lawyers later told a judge they had found him at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. Courthouse News Service reported the search for him.

After speaking with Belgal Friday afternoon, his lawyers told the court that he was in pain and still had a bullet lodged in his body. They said access to him was important for his health, contact with family and preparation of legal claims. Their account of his condition places medical access and communication with counsel among the immediate concerns raised by his detention.

Belgal’s lawyers filed an emergency petition challenging his detention. On Friday, Judge J. Paul Oetken ordered that he not be removed from the United States or transferred outside New York or New Jersey pending further order. The court docket records the emergency filing and order.

Investigations and accountability remain in federal hands

The Department of Homeland Security said its investigation was ongoing. DHS has also described the operation as targeted and blamed local sanctuary policies for dangerous arrest conditions. That policy argument is separate from the question of what happened immediately before officers fired.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul called on federal authorities to explain the shooting. “Federal authorities need to provide answers, and they must do so immediately,” Hochul said, in comments reported by TIME. She said she had urged President Donald Trump and Mullin to halt immigration enforcement actions in New York.

The public record now includes the city’s account of the car beginning to move, ICE’s allegation that it struck government vehicles and headed toward officers, and video that stops short of the shooting. The promised ICE body-camera footage and the federal investigation are the next concrete steps that could clarify how officers used force. Mullin has promised the footage, but has not given a release date.