FOLLOW US

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the FBI are investigating after a Mexican citizen was shot and killed by an ICE agent in Houston's Magnolia Park on Tuesday.

The son of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the man who died, said in a statement that “my father did not deserve this,” although ICE stated its officer killed Araujo in self-defense after he ignored commands and tried to run over the officer. The stepdaughter of another man arrested by ICE during the encounter has accused the officers of racial profiling. A protest was held near the scene of the shooting Tuesday night, and news conferences and vigils are slated Wednesday.

Magnolia Park resident Juliet Martinez had just dropped her son off at a nearby summer school yesterday morning when she drove past the scene of the fatal Canal Street shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

In a video she shared with the Houston Chronicle, taken on her phone around 6:45 a.m. Tuesday, ICE agents could be seen arresting a group of men near an unmarked white van outside of a barbershop. Salgado Araujo, handcuffed and laying on the concrete curb, was seen twitching and bleeding from his abdomen as agents apprehended him.

“I parked across the street and just saw how they had that poor man handcuffed and bleeding out, but they didn’t seem to have a care in the world,” Martinez said.

Around 10 minutes later, Martinez said, medical personnel arrived, and the street was blocked off to bystanders.

Juanita Murphy, a lifelong Magnolia Park resident who grew up in and still lives in a home just a few doors down from the site of the shooting, said Lorenzo Salgado Araujo's killing left her horrified.

“I could see him, his feet shaking and screaming,” she said, recalling hearing the gunshots yesterday morning while drinking her morning coffee before federal and local law enforcement officers flooded her block. “It was really bad. Horrible, horrible, horrible.”

Her son, Frank Murphy, who lives in Jersey Village but came to check on his mother after the shooting, said he's hoping for justice.

“They can't be doing that to our people,” he said.

Mexico President Claudia Sheinbaum said she is looking to “go beyond diplomatic notes and the measures we have already raised before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights” while speaking with reporters during a Wednesday news conference about the death of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo.

“We cannot allow the mistreatment of our fellow Mexicans in the United States,” Sheinbaum told reporters Wednesday. “Unfortunately, there has been another death of a Mexican national in the United States for being detained, when that person's only offense was lacking immigration documents, even though they had been hired by an American company."

The Texas Rangers are not investigating the deadly ICE shooting in Houston, the Department of Public Safety said Wednesday.

The state agency did not respond to questions about why it is not probing this week’s shooting, given Texas Rangers have investigated multiple recent shootings involving federal immigration officials. DPS directed questions to the FBI, which is investigating.

Last year, Texas Rangers investigated the deadly shooting of 23-year-old Ruben Ray Martinez by a Homeland Security Investigations agent in South Padre. A grand jury in February the ICE agent.

Rangers also investigated a shooting in Starr County involving the Border Patrol in December.

Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo joined a growing chorus of calls from elected officials for an independent investigation into the killing.

While other elected officials were cautious in their calls for accountability, Hidalgo said recent killings by federal immigration officers and attempted cover-ups made it impossible for her to trust the government’s account of the incident.

“This is an agency with a recent history of inexplicable arrests, extrajudicial violence and blatant attempts at cover ups,” Hidalgo said. “ICE has long since lost public trust.”

The Texas Democratic Party joined the plea of other legislators and leaders Wednesday asking federal authorities to release all available evidence as quickly as possible in the fatal shooting.

"Nobody is defending violent criminals or suggesting that law enforcement should not protect themselves when they face a genuine threat," said Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder. "But we’ve already seen this movie in Minneapolis so we know the public cannot simply be asked to accept an official version of events without transparency."

Federal officials have said that the ICE agent acted in self-defense as Araujo allegedly attempted to strike officers with his vehicle.

A statement from the Texas Democratic Party said the public deserves a complete accounting of the facts supported by all available evidence, including body camera footage, surveillance video and witness testimony.

"Texas families deserve safe communities and a fair immigration system," Scudder added. "We can enforce our laws while still respecting constitutional rights, due process, and basic human dignity. Those values are not mutually exclusive."

Commissioner Adrian Garcia joined other officials in calling for an independent investigation into the shooting led by local authorities.

“Our local authorities are grounded in this community and have the trust needed to ensure full accountability,” Garcia said. “Our neighborhoods should not live in fear. As the facts of this case come to light, this family deserves answers and accountability. Justice must be served for Mr. Araujo."

Garcia’s statement came after other court members made similar appeals in the immediate aftermath of Tuesday’s shooting.

A spokesperson for Judge Lina Hidalgo’s staff said her office was still reviewing the facts of the incident and would likely issue a statement Wednesday afternoon.

• John Lomax V

Texas governor candidate calls for transparency

State representative and the Democratic nominee for Texas governor Gina Hinojosa is alarmed after Tuesday's shooting.

“Let me be clear: the targeting of our communities is making us less safe, not more safe," she said. "Texans, and all Americans, deserve full transparency about this shooting, including the release of body camera and dashcam footage, and I join the calls for a transparent investigation that includes state Rangers to begin as quickly as possible.”

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare issued a statement saying the procedure in officer-involved shootings is that the DA's office conduct a parallel investigation, but that federal authorities are handling the case.

"When anyone in Harris County loses their life during an interaction with law enforcement, the Harris County District Attorney’s Office conducts an investigation parallel to the agency leading the investigation," he said in an X post. "Unfortunately at this time, federal authorities continue exclusively handling all aspects in this case."

He said Salgado Araujo’s family and the community deserve the truth.

Teare urged anyone with video, photos or eyewitness accounts to come to his office.

In the wake of the fatal shooting, at least one former chief of a major American city says it is important that local police conduct their own investigation.

“I would investigate or at least embed an investigator,” said Jorge Colina, a retired Miami police chief who now consults for law enforcement agencies nationwide. Even if federal authorities are reluctant to cooperate in an investigation, like they were in Minnesota, it’s important that local leaders keep trying, Colina said.

Colina’s attitude stands in stark contrast to Houston Mayor John Whitmire and officials with the Houston Police Department, who say they’ve had no involvement since ICE agents fatally shot a man in the Magnolia Park neighborhood.

On Wednesday morning, Whitmire declined to seek a city-led investigation, citing an FBI probe was already taking place.

During a Wednesday press conference, Araujo's son, Ronaldo Salgado, said his father would have stopped if the cars had any emblems indicating they belonged to a law-enforcement agency. Because he was getting a work permit, he was familiar with the process.

“He knew what to do in case he was stopped by ICE. He knew not to sign anything,” Salgado said. “What happened, though, was my father was followed by two unmarked cars.”

The family said in the press conference that no law enforcement agency has reached out to Araujo’s family besides communication with the FBI that occurred on site.

At the Wednesday press conference, Rep. Gene Wu encouraged residents not to turn over evidence to ICE.

“We've already heard stories that ICE is coming to people's homes and taking their videos and deleting them,” he said. “Do not let this happen. Do not let police officers, especially ICE, come into your home and take your things without a warrant.”

This shooting has ignited intense debate over federal immigration enforcement tactics, racial profiling, and the need for transparency in officer-involved incidents. The family’s claims that the unmarked vehicles and the circumstances of the stop raised suspicions of profiling have fueled protests and calls for independent investigations from local officials and the Texas Democratic Party.

The contrast between federal handling and local demands for accountability echoes previous high-profile cases, raising questions about trust in immigration enforcement operations. As the FBI investigates and the community demands answers, including the release of body camera footage, the incident highlights the broader tensions surrounding immigration policy and its human cost.

For the family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, the loss is devastating, and their calls for justice underscore the need for clear communication and evidence in such cases to maintain public trust.