Two people were shot and wounded by a U.S. immigration agent during a vehicle stop in Portland, Oregon, authorities said, intensifying tensions already high after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot a woman in Minneapolis a day earlier.
Portland Police Chief Bob Day urged restraint as investigators worked to establish what happened. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more,” Day said in a statement.
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The Department of Homeland Security said the Portland shooting unfolded as U.S. Border Patrol agents conducted a targeted vehicle stop. DHS said the driver — described as a suspected Venezuelan gang member — attempted to “weaponize” the vehicle and run over agents. In response, “an agent fired a defensive shot,” and the driver and a passenger fled, according to the agency.
Portland police said the encounter occurred near a medical clinic in the eastern part of the city. Officers responding to the scene learned within minutes that two people — a man and a woman — with gunshot wounds were seeking help roughly 3 kilometers to the northeast. Police said officers applied tourniquets before both were taken to a hospital; their conditions were not immediately known.
DHS said the FBI is investigating. City and state leaders called for an independent and comprehensive review and urged a pause in federal immigration enforcement operations in Oregon pending findings.
“There was a time when we could take them at their word,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said of federal descriptions of the shooting. “That time is long past.”
Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek, a Democrat, echoed the call for a pause and full accounting. At the same news conference, state Sen. Kayse Jama, who immigrated to the United States as a refugee from Somalia 28 years ago, directed a stark message at federal immigration agents: “We do not need you, you are not welcome, you need to get the hell out of our community.”
The clash in Portland came on the heels of a deadly shooting in Minneapolis, where an ICE agent shot and killed a 37-year-old woman in her car on Wednesday, according to authorities. That death sparked two days of protests in the Twin Cities. ICE and the Border Patrol are separate agencies within DHS, but both have been active in cities across the United States amid an immigration crackdown championed by President Donald Trump.
The stepped-up enforcement has divided the country: supporters argue aggressive tactics are necessary to deter crime and illegal entry, while Democrats and civil rights groups say the posture is an unnecessary provocation that heightens the risk of violence. Federal officials have said criminal suspects and anti-Trump activists have increasingly used cars as weapons in confrontations with law enforcement, though video has sometimes contradicted those claims in high-profile cases.
Portland authorities released few additional details about Thursday’s encounter, including the identities of the wounded man and woman, how many shots were fired, and whether any of the agents’ vehicles or equipment recorded the incident. DHS did not say whether the suspected driver or other occupants were in custody, and police did not describe any ongoing public safety threat.
City leaders asked residents to allow investigators to gather evidence and interview witnesses before drawing conclusions. “We owe the public a full, independent accounting,” Wilson said, “but we also owe it to each other to keep our streets calm while that work is done.”
Anyone with information about the Portland shooting was urged by police to contact investigators.
By Abdiwahab Ahmed
Axadle Times international–Monitoring.
