ICE says it shot man who tried to ram officers with car in California

ICE officers shot and wounded a man in Northern California on Tuesday after the suspect tried to ram one of them with his vehicle, the acting director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.



The man was taken to a hospital and the FBI was on the scene, ICE Director Todd Lyons said in a statement.



The shooting took place amid heightened scrutiny over immigration enforcement during President Donald Trump's crackdown, which resulted in the shooting death of a pair of U.S. citizens in Minneapolis earlier this year, and after a similar claim by ICE last year was contradicted by evidence.



"As officers approached the car, the wanted gang member weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over. Following their training, our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents, and the public," Lyons said.



The suspected gang member from El Salvador was in the U.S. illegally and had been wanted for questioning in connection with a homicide, ICE said of the incident in Patterson, a farm town of 25,000 people in the San Joaquin Valley, about 90 miles southeast of San Francisco.