NYPD video shows moments before ICE shooting in New York
New NYPD footage shows officers approaching Oscar Belgal’s car before it leaves frame, while the gunfire itself is not captured.
By Georgia Hale · Staff Writer
2 min read
Newly aired ICE shooting video New York footage shows plainclothes federal officers converging on Oscar Belgal’s car in Marble Hill before the vehicle moves out of frame. The NYPD security video does not show the gunfire, according to NBC News and Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The shooting happened Thursday afternoon, Oct. 8, during an attempted immigration arrest in the Manhattan neighborhood, which is attached to the Bronx. Belgal was wounded in the neck, treated at a hospital and survived, according to Associated Press reporting published by PBS.
What does the NYPD video show before the ICE shooting?
NBC News reported that one officer runs to the driver’s-side window and appears to bang on it as another runs alongside the vehicle. The car then drives out of view. That newly reported pre-shooting video offers only a limited look at the encounter because the shots were fired outside its frame.
Tisch said Belgal was pulling into a parking space when a plainclothes federal officer approached with a gun drawn, followed by another officer. Belgal then began moving forward and at least one officer fired seven rounds, the AP reported.
The Department of Homeland Security gave a different account, saying Belgal ignored commands and used his vehicle toward officers. A senior ICE official said Belgal struck two ICE vehicles and appeared to be driving toward agents when they opened fire, Reuters reported. Reuters said it could not independently verify that account.
What does the body-camera footage show?
The separately released NYPD body-camera footage begins after the shooting. It shows city police officers arriving, finding Belgal injured and handcuffed beside the car, then carrying him to a police vehicle for transport to the hospital, according to Reuters and CBS News.
Belgal’s 5-year-old son was in the back seat during the shooting and was physically unharmed, police said. The child was later with a relative, Tisch said, according to the AP.
Images and video from the aftermath showed damage to the vehicle. Tisch said there was a bullet entry point in the front windshield and an exit point in a rear window, the AP reported.
Who is investigating the shooting?
The investigation was still underway. DHS was leading it, with the NYPD and FBI providing support, CBS News reported. Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said body-camera footage from ICE agents would also be released, according to Reuters.
Belgal was later placed in federal detention, NBC News reported, citing his lawyers. Protests followed the shooting, but the available pre-shooting NYPD footage does not settle the competing accounts of what prompted the gunfire.
This story draws on original reporting from NBC News.