The New York Police Department released body camera footage on Friday showing the immediate aftermath of a shooting in which U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents wounded a 28-year-old man while his 5-year-old son sat in the back seat of his car.
The video shows NYPD officers arriving at the scene in Marble Hill, finding plainclothes ICE officers, and helping the wounded man, Oscar Belgal, into a police vehicle for transport to a hospital. It does not show the shooting itself.
Belgal, a Dominican national, was shot in the neck on Thursday while driving in the city's densely populated Marble Hill neighborhood. The boy was physically unharmed and is now with family members, according to PBS NewsHour.
What the released footage shows
The NYPD body camera footage shows officers responding to a 911 call about a man who had been shot. Bystanders can be heard shouting, "They shot him" and "ICE shot him," while ICE officers handcuff Belgal as he sits on the ground, according to NBC24. Officers then lift and carry him to their vehicle, repeatedly telling him to "put pressure" on his wound.
A separate NYPD surveillance video shows the start of the encounter — but not the shooting. It shows two immigration officers in civilian garb running up to a parked vehicle with guns drawn, one bashing the barrel of his gun against the car's windows before the driver pulls away and out of view of the camera.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said police cameras showed Belgal backing into a parking spot when a plainclothes federal officer approached the driver's side window with his gun drawn. Tisch said at least one officer fired seven rounds.
The BBC's Nada Tawfik went through the newly released body camera footage, describing the tense moments as police arrived on scene, according to Maclean's Washington Bureau.
ICE says officers feared for their lives
Marcos Charles, the head of enforcement and removal operations for ICE, said Belgal refused orders to exit his vehicle, then accelerated and smashed into two government vehicles as officers tried to block him from driving away.
"Our officers, using their training and believing that their life and the life of the partners and the general public were in danger, used their training and fired weapons," Charles said at a news conference in Washington.
Charles said Belgal was struck "superficially" in the neck, and that the officers were not aware the child was in the car.
Belgal's lawyers have given a different account of his condition. Attorney Paige Austin told a Manhattan federal court that Belgal was still in pain from the shooting when he called an hour earlier, and that "he still has a bullet in his body."
A political fight over sanctuary policies
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin blamed New York's sanctuary policies for the shooting and described Belgal as a "thug" who posed a threat to the community.
"Sanctuary politicians, they create an environment for criminal activity to thrive, not for the American citizens to be safe," Mullin said.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and New York Governor Kathy Hochul, both Democrats, called the shooting an outrage and pressed President Donald Trump and Mullin to release Belgal — unsuccessfully. They also urged the administration to halt immigration enforcement operations in the city.
"There is no justification for what we have seen today," Mamdani said. He also questioned whether Belgal knew the officers were ICE agents.
Belgal's record and legal status
Charles said Belgal was associated with a robbery crew that used mopeds and weapons, was convicted of grand larceny last year and sentenced to five years of probation, and had evaded ICE officers in September during an attempted arrest for deportation. Belgal has pleaded not guilty to pending narcotics-sale charges.
Belgal's lawyers filed an emergency petition challenging the legality of his detention, and a judge issued an order temporarily barring the government from removing him from the U.S. He is being held at a federal jail in Brooklyn.
What remains unknown
The surveillance footage does not capture the shooting itself, and the ICE officers' body camera footage — which Mullin confirmed was activated — has not yet been released. Under agency policy, body camera video can be released within 72 hours if determined to be in the agency's best interest.
Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark said her office is investigating the shooting and working to determine "the appropriate course of action."
What is confirmed: Belgal was shot and wounded in the neck; his 5-year-old son was in the car and unharmed; seven rounds were fired; and a judge has temporarily blocked his removal from the U.S.
What is unknown: whether the shooting was justified, whether Belgal knew the officers were federal agents, and what the ICE body camera footage will show.
What is awaited: the release of the ICE officers' body camera footage and the outcome of the Bronx district attorney's investigation.