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A shooting involving US federal agents outside a hospital in Portland has intensified scrutiny of immigration enforcement, coming just a day after a fatal incident involving an ICE officer in Minneapolis.
The episode has prompted calls from local leaders for federal authorities to halt operations in the city while investigations continue.
Hospital shooting
Portland police said two people were taken to hospital after being shot in an incident involving federal agents near the Adventist hospital campus in east Portland.
Officers initially responded to reports of gunfire at the hospital site before learning that a man who had been shot was calling for help several miles away.
Police later found a man and a woman with apparent gunshot wounds and provided emergency aid before they were transported to hospital, notes The Guardian.
The Portland police bureau said it had determined that both were injured during a shooting involving federal agents, though their conditions had not been officially confirmed.
Federal account
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said US border patrol agents had stopped a vehicle while searching for a man suspected of being an undocumented immigrant linked to a Venezuelan gang.
According to the spokesperson, agents opened fire after the driver attempted to run them over. “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” the statement said, adding that the vehicle then fled the scene with a passenger inside.
Police sources told the Oregonian that one person was shot in the leg and the other in the chest.
Political backlash
Portland mayor Keith Wilson questioned the federal account, saying at a news conference: “We know what the federal government says happened here. There was a time when we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”
US representative Maxine Dexter, whose district includes the site of the shooting, said both victims were alive but that the extent of their injuries was unclear. She called on Immigration and Customs Enforcement to end its operations in the city.
“ICE has done nothing but inject terror, chaos, and cruelty into our communities,” Dexter said, demanding an independent local investigation.
Calls to pause enforcement
Wilson echoed those demands, urging ICE to halt activity in Portland until a full inquiry is completed. “We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” he said.
Oregon state senator Kayse Jama also criticised aggressive federal enforcement, telling agents they were “not welcome” in the community.
Protests and investigations
The shooting sparked protests in downtown Portland, where demonstrators chanted “Abolish ICE!” outside city hall. Police and city officials urged calm.
The FBI is leading the investigation into the Portland shooting, Portland police chief Bob Day said. Tensions remain high nationwide following the Minneapolis killing, which is also under federal investigation.
Sources: The Guardian
