Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was shot and killed by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Houston on Tuesday morning during a targeted enforcement operation. ICE said the shooting happened at around 6:50 a.m., and Araujo was later pronounced dead at one local hospital.
Houston's East End
ICE said Araujo was from Mexico and did not have legal status in the U.S. The agency said he tried to evade arrest, rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused multiple verbal commands and used his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer, who fired in self-defense.
The shooting took place in Houston’s East End, a detail that put local residents at the center of the fallout before the morning ended. Janie Torres rushed to the scene after seeing the news on social media and said, "I'm Latina, I'm Chicana, but that could easily be me, going down the street on the next block over," and, "None of the Hispanic community should be having to have fear of going out, going to the store, going out for the weekend with their family.... We shouldn't have to be doing that in fear. We shouldn't have to."
LULAC and investigators
Ramon Palomares said LULAC is deeply concerned and alarmed by the shooting. He said, "This is not an isolated event across the nation," and added, "We have seen a pattern of ICE involvement in shootings and excessive use of force. Each time, a family is left without answers and a community is left in fear."
Palomares also said LULAC is demanding that all evidence be preserved and released, including body cam, dash cam, bystander video and dispatch logs. LULAC asked the Houston Police Department to investigate the incident in Houston’s East End and called for a full federal and independent investigation.
An ICE spokesperson said the FBI had taken over the investigation into the shooting. A spokesperson for the FBI’s Houston Field Office said the Office of Inspector General for the Department of Homeland Security is leading the investigation.
The immediate issue for residents is not the agency’s account alone, but whether the video, logs and other records match it. That evidence will be what shows how the encounter unfolded and whether the official explanation can be tested against the record.
