Federal agents fire shots at man during operation in Southern California, police say
Federal agents fired shots at a man in Southern California during an apparent immigration operation on Saturday morning, according to the San Bernardino police department.
San Bernardino police say officers responded to Acacia Avenue and Baseline Street at 8:51 a.m. following reports of shots being fired. At the scene, the officers spoke with federal agents, who said they were involved in an officer-involved shooting, and the subject fled the scene.
A short time later, police said the man who was shot at contacted their dispatch center, stating that masked men tried to pull him over, broke his car window and shot at him. The man said he didn't know who they were and wanted police assistance.
Officers located the man's vehicle in the 1000 block of Mt. View Drive and made contact with him. According to the department, it was unclear what he was wanted for.
Under the California Values Act, police are prohibited from assisting federal officials with immigration enforcement, so the San Bernardino officers left the scene.
Then, at 1:12 p.m., police said the federal officials requested help from the San Bernardino Police Department due to a large crowd forming as they attempted to arrest the man. This is when the department said it learned the man was wanted for assaulting a federal officer.
San Bernardino officers then responded back to the scene to assist with the crowd control.
"Under the California Values Act, local law enforcement may assist federal officials when officer or public safety is at risk. In this case, federal agents requested assistance during a lawful arrest for assaulting a federal officer when a crowd created a potential officer safety concern. This was not an immigration-related arrest, which would be prohibited under California law," the department said in a press release.
The Department of Homeland Security is investigating the circumstances surrounding the officer-involved shooting.
According to a press release from the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, the individual who was shot at had been stopped by ICE agents.
"The family is frightened, especially given that their vehicle was fired upon three times. The individual in question has no criminal record," the organization wrote.
