An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot Oscar Belgal, 28, in the neck on the afternoon of October 8 in Marble Hill, a New York City neighborhood that is legally part of Manhattan but sits beside the Bronx, while Belgal's 5-year-old son was in the back seat. The two sides' accounts diverge on the moment that matters. Federal officials say Belgal refused orders to get out, rammed two ICE vehicles and then accelerated toward officers, who fired because they believed their lives were in danger. City police say their cameras show plainclothes agents walking up to his parked car with a gun drawn, then lose sight of the car before any shots; CNN reports that no publicly released video shows the moment the shots were fired. The ICE officers wore body cameras that were switched on, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin says, and he has promised to release the footage once the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations finish their review. On October 11, Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the city will conduct its own review, the third inquiry now underway.
What city police say they found
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch gave a preliminary account the night of the shooting. Two 911 calls came in at 4:04 p.m. reporting shots fired near 2 Marble Hill Avenue, and at the same moment a federal agent called 911 asking for the Fire Department and then the police. NYPD cameras recorded Belgal backing his gray Honda CR-V into a spot in front of a fire hydrant. "One plainclothes federal law enforcement officer approaches the driver's side window with his gun drawn. Another plainclothes officer also approaches the vehicle by the driver's side headlight. The vehicle then starts to move forward and goes out of camera view," Tisch said. "The Argus cameras do not capture the discharge." Video released later, CNN reported, shows an agent punching the driver's side window as the car begins to move.
Physical evidence fits parts of both accounts. Police recovered at least seven shell casings; Tisch said "at least one ICE agent discharged seven rounds, striking the driver in the neck below his left ear." Belgal's windshield had bullet damage and his rear window was shattered. An ICE sedan at the scene "had damage to the left front panel, and the lower panel was fully disconnected," Tisch said. Officers who had been nearby on an unrelated call found men in construction-style vests and face masks, at least one carrying a long gun, and Belgal handcuffed on the ground; they drove him to NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital, where he arrived in stable condition. Police did not find the boy until about 7 p.m., unhurt and with an aunt in Yonkers, a law enforcement source told CNN.
What federal officials say
Marcos Charles, who heads ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations, said agents used their vehicles to block Belgal in and ordered him out of the car. "He then accelerated his vehicle, smashing into two of our government ICE vehicles, and then weaponized his vehicle and proceeded to accelerate, going towards other officers," Charles said. Mullin acknowledged that the agents did not know a child was in the car, but blamed Belgal for putting his son at risk and called him the "worst of the worst." The Department of Homeland Security says Belgal is a Dominican national in the country illegally with ties to the Trinitarios gang, that he had knowledge related to last year's shooting of a Customs and Border Protection officer, and that he had fled an earlier arrest attempt in September. Court records show he pleaded guilty to fourth-degree grand larceny after a 2023 robbery arrest and received five years' probation, and that a 2025 drug-sale charge is pending; he has pleaded not guilty. Mullin also blamed the city's sanctuary policies: "We asked the city to give them to us, and they released them back on the streets." Mamdani says there was no active warrant for Belgal's arrest.
Four inquiries, and who runs them
The night of the shooting, Tisch said federal agents had "exercised their authority to take over the investigation." That federal inquiry is run by the FBI and Homeland Security Investigations; HSI is part of ICE, the agency whose officer fired the shots. Bronx District Attorney Darcel Clark has said her office will also investigate, with the support of state Attorney General Letitia James. Mamdani told MS NOW on October 11 that he and police officials would "review the entire 24-hour period": the shooting, the NYPD's response, the protests outside the hospital afterward, and ICE's use of a privately owned parking lot as a staging area. He has not said how a city review would get evidence from federal agencies. Separately, Belgal's lawyers filed a habeas corpus petition arguing he was arrested "without a valid warrant and without any consideration of his individual circumstances," and U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken ordered that he not be deported for now. DHS says he was "superficially struck by one of the bullets or fragments in the neck"; his lawyers at the Legal Aid Society and Make the Road New York say the bullet is still lodged in his neck and that he needs surgery he has not received. (Police first identified him as Belgal; some officials and outlets have since spelled the name Bergal.)
The political fight
"What happened today was an outrage," Mamdani said that night, after what he described as two hours on the phone with President Trump and Mullin trying to secure Belgal's release. "We know that ICE is rotten to its core." He has asked Trump to end ICE enforcement in the city. Mullin accused the mayor of "inciting hostilities" and undermining ICE's mission. Gov. Kathy Hochul said that "federal authorities need to provide answers, and they must do so immediately," and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer called on DHS to release the body-camera footage and ensure independent investigations. Until that footage or the results of any inquiry are public, the central factual dispute, whether Belgal's car was moving toward officers when they fired, remains open.
Sources: NYC Mayor's Office, press conference transcript, October 8, 2026; CNN, October 12; amNY, October 9; Department of Homeland Security, statement, October 9; TIME, October 9; The Haitian Times / THE CITY, October 9; Reuters via Free Malaysia Today, October 12; CBS New York, October 11.
