A shooting involving a federal immigration agent shut down a South Los Angeles neighborhood for hours Wednesday and drew a small crowd of onlookers and activists as law enforcement investigated.
Federal agents opened fire at a man after he rammed federal law enforcement with his vehicle while attempting to evade arrest during an immigration operation in Compton, according to the Department of Homeland Security. The man was not wounded, but a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent sustained unspecified injuries.
At 7:05 a.m., Homeland Security officers conducted an operation to apprehend William Eduardo Moran Carballo, a citizen of El Salvador who is accused of being in the U.S. illegally and “participating in a human smuggling operation,” according to a department spokesperson.
A federal agent walks past a bullet shattered window of a car involved in a no-hit shooting on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
In an attempt to flee, Carballo “weaponized his vehicle” and rammed law enforcement, who fired at Carballo in defense, the spokesperson said.
Carballo was not hit and tried to run but was apprehended by law enforcement, according to the spokesperson. He has two prior arrests for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and was ordered removed by a judge in 2019, the spokesperson said.
After the shooting, officers with the California Highway Patrol arrived to investigate the crash — located at 126th Street and Mona Boulevard in Willowbrook — while sheriff’s deputies provided traffic control.
By 9:30 a.m., a crowd of more than 30 people had gathered near where the crash took place. A silver BMW with a smashed-in black hood sat at the end of the driveway of a green stucco house on 126th Street. Several federal agents stood in the street, some dressed in plainclothes and others in tactical gear with masks.
Witnesses told ABC7 that the car was being pursued by federal agents when the driver crashed on the residential street.
“It’s just scary, you know, we have a school that’s just a few hundred yards away,” a local resident identified only as Andrew told the station. “You’ve got kids that are here, kids that are fearful for their parents to get taken away. It’s very alarming.”
Border Patrol agents and other law enforcement ask a car to make room for a police vehicle to pass while investigating a shooting involving a federal agent in Willowbrook.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
As observers meandered in the area after the crash, one woman shouted, “Let’s see your ugly face,” to a federal agent, while another person driving by slowed down to yell, “F— you,” out the window.
Residents who wandered out of their homes and a nearby apartment complex stood in their yards recording the agents with their cellphones. One man with a bullhorn cursed at immigration agents at the intersection, while another person waved the Mexican flag.
Wednesday was not the first time agents have opened fire during immigration enforcement operations in California.
In October, ICE officers opened fire twice in two separate incidents, one in South L.A. and the other in Ontario. A Homeland Security spokesperson said, in both cases, that officers were in fear for their lives and fired “defensive shots.”
However, body cam footage obtained by The Times of the South L.A. shooting raised questions about the seconds leading up to the gunfire, which wounded the target of the operation and a deputy U.S. marshal hit by a ricochet bullet.
Homeland Security officials accused Carlitos Ricardo Parias of weaponizing his car and ramming a law enforcement vehicle in an attempt to flee in that incident. But at the time that the ICE officer fired, Parias’ car did not appear to be moving.
Spectators film and observe federal agents as they investigate a shooting involving a fellow agent on Wednesday morning in Willowbrook.
(Genaro Molina/Los Angeles Times)
Last week an NBC investigation found that Homeland Security personnel shot 11 people during immigration operations since September. In the majority of the shootings, officers fired into vehicles.
In a statement on Wednesday’s operation, a department spokesperson said officers are facing a dramatic increase in vehicle attacks.
Among those who stood at the intersection near Wednesday’s incident was Joanna Cristobal, 30, who said she woke up and learned about the shooting on TikTok.
“I feel like I want to cry,” she said, gazing at the agents. “I hate to see them taking our people. I want them out of here.”
One woman was escorted out of 16th Street after she began yelling at agents. The crowd became angry as sheriff’s deputies attempted to push the crowd across Mona Boulevard.
“We’re not gonna move,” a man with a bullhorn yelled.
A deputy assured people they could still continue to record and that they wouldn’t block their view. Ultimately, the crowd stayed put and news cameras were allowed to return to their original spot.
The group began to cheer and chant “ICE out of L.A.”
