Weeks after the shooting of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on Christmas Eve, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement that differs from the account first provided to the media.<\/b>
\nWeeks after the shooting of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detainee in Glen Burnie, Maryland, on Christmas Eve, the Department of Homeland Security has issued a statement that differs from the account first provided to the media.
Initially, in a social media post on Dec. 24, DHS stated the two men who were taken into custody by ICE in Glen Burnie were in a van they claimed had been driven \u201cdirectly at ICE officers\u201d and that the driver, Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, was shot by officers \u201cdefensively.\u201d
The account described a second man, Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, as being in the passenger\u2019s seat of the van driven by Sousa-Martins, and that he was injured when Sousa-Martins \u201cwrecked his van.\u201d
But, on Friday, Anne Arundel County Police said in a news release that Serrano-Esquivel was not in the van driven by Sousa-Martins.
In fact, he was \u201calready in custody in an ICE vehicle.\u201d It added that the other individual, Sousa-Martins, \u201cwas struck by gunfire while operating a separate vehicle.\u201d
On Friday afternoon, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said in a statement to WTOP that ICE officers were involved in a \u201ctargeted immigration enforcement operation\u201d during the Glen Burnie incident, and that officers approached the van driven by Sousa-Martins and told him to turn off the engine.
Sousa-Martins tried to drive off and \u201cweaponized his vehicles and began ramming his van into several ICE vehicles,\u201d according to the release.
\u201cHe then drove his van directly at ICE officers, it appeared he was trying to run them over.\u201d
It was that action, the release states, that then prompted agents to \u201cdefensively\u201d fire their service weapons, hitting Sousa-Martins who then \u201cwrecked his van between two buildings, injuring (Serrano-Esquivel).\u201d
Friday\u2019s statement indicated officers \u201crendered immediate medical aid\u201d to both men.
According to DHS, both men are in the United States illegally. Sousa-Martins is originally from Portugal and Serrano-Esquivel is from El Salvador.
Anne Arundel County police said the Christmas Eve shooting remains under investigation, and that anyone with information should contact them.
In Wednesday\u2019s fatal shooting in Minneapolis, DHS officials stated 37-year-old Renee Nicole Good tried to run over officers before she was shot and killed.
A day after Good was killed, federal immigration agents shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland. DHS claimed the driver attempted to \u201cweaponize\u201d his vehicle to strike the officers.<\/p>\n