Man fatally shot by ICE in Houston was not intended target, DHS says

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Man fatally shot by ICE in Houston was not intended target, DHS saysImage source, Getty ImagesImage caption, A family member holds an image of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, who was fatally shot in Houston on TuesdayByAoife WalshPublished10 July 2026A man who was fatally shot by immigration agents at a traffic stop in Houston on Tuesday was not the intended target, US officials say. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, was stopped at 07:00 local time (12:00 GMT) while driving to work and was killed shortly afterwards. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said on Thursday the stop was initiated because they saw "a white van with an individual who resembled the target" of an operation.

They have said the officer shot in self-defence. Passengers in the van and the victim's family have disputed the department's account and the agency's legal watchdog has opened an investigation into the fatal shooting. Figure caption, Watch: Houston community comes together after fatal ICE shootingThe agents involved in the shooting were not wearing body cameras and officials have not released any images or videos related to it.

The Details

A DHS spokesperson said in a statement to the 's US partner, CBS News, that half of its field officers were now equipped with body cameras and the other half were expected to receive them in the next 60 days. Salgado, 52, had been working as a builder for three decades in the Houston area after coming to the US as an undocumented migrant, his family said. They said he had no criminal record and was close to obtaining a work permit.

He was driving himself and three co-workers to a site when the incident took place, they added. In an earlier statement , externalon Tuesday, DHS, which oversees Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), said agents had "attempted to conduct a vehicle stop as part of a targeted enforcement operation to arrest an illegal alien". It alleged Salgado "attempted to evade arrest" and rammed an ICE vehicle and the officer "fired his weapon in self-defence".

He was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries, the statement said. On Thursday, DHS said agents had seen two white vans weeks prior to the incident at an address they had surveilled. When they returned on Tuesday, they saw "a white van with an individual who resembled the target" and initiated the traffic stop.

The attorney for the men inside the van with Salgado Araujo said their account of what happened contradicts the Department of Homeland Security's version of events, CBS reported. "All three of my clients reiterated that at no point was there ever an agent standing in front of the vehicle, nor was an agent ever placed in the line of danger," the attorney said. Salgado Araujo's sons have also disputed DHS' accounts.

The story has become one of the most prominent items on the global agenda.