ICE agents shoot man in northern California, and the director is again invoking the ‘weaponized vehicle’ reasoning

ICE agents shot a man in his car in northern California on Tuesday, with the agency’s director once again invoking the controversial “weaponized vehicle” justification, The Guardian reported. The incident happened in Patterson, a rural agricultural town about 80 miles east of San Jose, and the man, Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, is currently hospitalized.

Todd Lyons, the director of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), stated that agents stopped Hernandez’s vehicle to arrest him. Lyons claimed Hernandez is a member of the Los Angeles 18th Street gang and that he’s wanted for questioning in El Salvador in connection with a murder. However, Lyons didn’t provide any evidence to back up these serious allegations, and the details of that investigation are pretty unclear right now. The Stanislaus County Sheriff’s office, which has jurisdiction over Patterson, chose not to comment on Hernandez’s current condition.

According to Lyons, the situation escalated when agents approached the car. He said Hernandez “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over.” In response, the officers “fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents and the public,” Lyons explained. It’s not clear exactly how many shots were fired during the encounter.

The dashcam footage contradicts director Lyon’s statement, which puts yet another stain on ICE

Interestingly, an NBC affiliate in Sacramento, KCRA-TV, managed to get its hands on dashcam footage of the incident from Tuesday. This video, which doesn’t have any audio, shows three ICE agents surrounding a black sedan. The car was actually pinned between two other vehicles, both with flashing police lights, at its front and back. As the officers seemed to be reaching into the black sedan, its right passenger door swung open and collided with the car behind it as it reversed.

The agents appeared to have their weapons drawn at this point. The black sedan then lurched forward toward the officers before making a left turn, crossing the median into oncoming traffic, and vanishing from the clip. This footage definitely raises some questions about the “weaponized vehicle” claim.

Local law enforcement wasn’t involved in the shooting, according to a Facebook post from the sheriff’s office on Tuesday. The FBI office in Sacramento is now investigating the shooting, sharing updates on social media. California Governor Gavin Newsom’s office also confirmed on social media that he had been briefed on what happened. His office stated, “As is established practice, we expect our federal law enforcement partners to appropriately collaborate with state and local law enforcement as this matter is investigated.”

This incident in Patterson comes at a time when ICE is under some pretty intense scrutiny. The Trump administration has really ramped up raids and arrests targeting undocumented immigrants over the past year. The president is clearly pushing to fulfill a campaign promise to secure the US-Mexico border. This deployment of federal immigration agents across the nation has sparked many protests, and ICE agents have faced condemnation for violent clashes with demonstrators. Critics have accused them of using excessive force against those they’re trying to detain.

It’s pretty concerning that at least eight people have been shot by ICE agents just this year, 2026. The massive public uproar after the deaths of Alex Pretti and Nicole Good in Minnesota pushed ICE to a corner, eventually leading to a funding freeze as part of a broader DHS bill.

Patterson itself is home to many Hispanic and Latino residents, and it’s located in California’s Central Valley, which is a major farming hub. This region has seen a significant surge in ICE arrests, jumping by 58% between January 1 and July 31 of last year, after President Trump returned to office. Patterson’s mayor, Michael Clauzel, didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.