The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) updated its account of a Christmas Eve shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers in Glen Burnie, Maryland, after local police released details contradicting the department’s initial statement.
On December 24, DHS initially reported that ICE officers “defensively fired” at a van containing two undocumented immigrants after the driver allegedly rammed ICE vehicles and then attempted to drive directly at officers. DHS stated that the driver was shot and the passenger injured in the resulting crash.
However, the Anne Arundel County Police Department clarified that one of the injured men was actually inside an ICE vehicle that had been rammed, while the other, the van driver, was shot while operating his vehicle. The police emphasized that their officers do not conduct ICE operations and are investigating the incident independently.
DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin confirmed the revised account, stating that the ICE operation targeted the van and that the driver, identified as Portuguese national Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins, refused orders to turn off the engine and attempted to flee. ICE officers fired in what they described as defensive action, striking Sousa-Martins, who subsequently crashed his van.
The second injured man, Salvadoran national Solomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel, had been in an ICE vehicle at the time and suffered whiplash; both men received medical treatment and are now in ICE custody. Sousa-Martins is being held at a detention center in Bowling Green, Virginia.
Photos shared by DHS on the day of the incident showed the van crashed into a tree, though the department has not clarified the discrepancy with McLaughlin’s account that the van crashed between two buildings. DHS stated that no officers were injured during the operation.
The incident comes amid heightened scrutiny of ICE and Border Patrol operations following last week’s fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis and a separate shooting in Portland, Oregon, involving alleged gang members. DHS maintains that both incidents involved individuals “weaponizing” vehicles against law enforcement.
The Maryland investigation remains ongoing.
