Franklin Park ICE shooting: New bodycam video captures police response to fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez
ABC7 has obtained body camera video of Franklin Park police responding to a deadly shooting involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent earlier this month.
The shooting unfolded on the morning of Sept. 12 after the Department of Homeland Security says a targeted traffic stop ended in deadly gunfire when the man they were after drove his car toward officers, hitting one of them.
The video obtained from the Franklin Park Police Department through the Freedom of Information Act shows officers arriving near Grand and Elder Lane to speak with agents and witnesses.
The video shows a man, who DHS says was an undocumented immigrant with a history of reckless driving, being treated on the ground after being shot by an ICE agent.
"He tried to run me over," an ICE agent says.
An officer asks an ICE agent if there are any other suspects, and the agent responds, "He's the only one."
ABC7 blurred the body of 38-year-old Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez, who was the man fatally shot, as well as faces of bystanders and witnesses.
Villegas-Gonzalez, who his family says, came to the United States more than 20 years ago from Mexico, died at the hospital.
SEE ALSO | Illinois officials demand release of video in deadly shooting involving ICE officer in Franklin Park
The shooting happened after federal authorities say Villegas-Gonzalez tried to escape arrest by driving away. And they say during that alleged escape, "One of the ICE officers was hit by the car and dragged a significant distance. Fearing for his own life, the officer fired his weapon."
That ICE agent spoke with a responding police officer on scene about his injuries.
"I had gotten dragged a little bit," he says.
DHS initially said the ICE officer suffered severe injuries and was stabilized at the hospital before being released.
Cellphone video obtained by ABC7 that same day shows when ICE officers removed Villegas-Gonzalez from his crashed car.
The driver of the box truck Villegas-Gonzalez crashed into also spoke with police about what he said happened.
"They had pulled him over. They cut him off. They got out the car. They were trying to get him, but he reversed. And, I was already pulling to the side, and that's when -- I don't know if they shot him beforehand, and that's why he crashed into the trailer," the driver said. "But I'm assuming he had gotten shot because why else would he crash into the trailer?"
The box truck driver told the officer he heard one shot being fired.
This shooting received backlash from both city and state leaders.
In a response to ABC7, DHS says the officer who fired his weapon has been an ICE officer since 2021, and was the first time he fired his weapon in a use-of-force incident.
