Overview
- ICE officers conducting a targeted vehicle stop in Patterson, California, on Tuesday opened fire on a driver that the agency says tried to run over an agent, and the man was taken to a hospital.
- Dashcam video from passing motorists shows the car reverse into another vehicle, then surge forward over a median as agents point their guns, though the footage does not reveal when the shots were fired.
- The FBI is leading an active investigation with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, which said no local officers fired their weapons and that I‑5 ramps at Sperry Avenue were closed for hours for the scene work.
- ICE identified the man as Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, an alleged 18th Street gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in a murder case, while an attorney quoted by the Associated Press disputed the government’s account and raised possible misidentification.
- The shooting comes during heightened scrutiny of federal immigration-enforcement force, with recent cases in Minneapolis showing initial official narratives later revised after video and witness evidence surfaced.