An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in New Jersey was struck by a vehicle and fired his weapon at the car as it fled the scene Monday morning, according to the Stafford Township Police Department.
The police department said in a statement that it had been informed that ICE was attempting to apprehend a suspect when the suspect fled in a vehicle, striking an agent. The agent then discharged his firearm at the vehicle, reportedly striking it. The suspect fled and has not been located, police said.
The agent sustained unknown injuries, and it is unknown whether the suspect was injured, according to the department’s statement. Police added that there is no reason to believe there is any concern for the public’s safety.
The confrontation occurred at approximately 9:30 a.m. in Stafford Township, a community on the New Jersey coast. Stafford police said they were not assisting in the ICE operation at the time and were only managing traffic and securing the scene as the investigation continues.
Monday’s case comes less than a week after Trump signed into law a new measure that provides ICE and other agencies within the Department of Homeland Security roughly $70 billion in additional funding for the mass deportation campaign that has been a central focus of his second presidency. The law’s passage capped a months-long legislative standoff that precipitated the longest-ever DHS shutdown, as Democrats pushed for reforms after immigration agents killed two U.S. citizens, Alex Pretti and Renee Good, in Minneapolis in January.
Stafford police said they are not involved in the investigation of Monday’s incident. The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request for comment.