Houston officials call out lack of federal collaboration after fatal ICE shooting

By Julianna Bragg, Priscilla Alvarez, Alisha Ebrahimji, Caroll Alvarado, Danya Gainor, Carolina Peguero, Norma Galeana, CNN

(CNN) — Days after a federal immigration agent fatally shot a Houston man, frustration is growing among local officials who say federal agencies are resisting collaboration on the investigation into the contentious shooting.

Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials have said an agent opened fire Tuesday morning after Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national, rammed a law enforcement vehicle and refused to follow verbal commands during a traffic stop that was part of a “targeted operation.”

But Texas officials say they’re being kept in the dark by federal authorities, without access to key evidence, like Salgado Araujo’s work van, or invitations to the scene of the incident.

“Sadly, what we’re getting on the local side is updates via X and Twitter, so that’s not the best practice,” Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CNN’s Omar Jimenez on Saturday. “I remain hopeful that HSI and ICE will collaborate and will at least share some critical pieces of evidence with us.”

Teare told CNN’s Erin Burnett on Friday his office would move to ask judges for access to the vehicle if federal authorities don’t agree to share evidence.

“It is one of, if not the most, crucial piece of evidence to really uncover what actually happened out there that morning,” he said.

When asked by CNN about the van’s whereabouts, the Department of Homeland Security deferred to the FBI and Office of the Inspector General. The FBI deferred back to DHS. CNN has reached out to the Inspector General’s office.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire expressed a similar frustration Friday as the city’s police department had offered its resources to help with the investigation.

“The FBI has all the evidence that would normally go in to an HPD or other law enforcement agency’s investigation,” Whitmire said at a news conference Friday. “In this instance, the van, the passengers, the deceased, and they’re tightly controlling it. We’ve reached out to them and asked them to share that information with HPD.”

Texas Democratic representatives have also highlighted differing accounts between the federal officials’ version of what led to the fatal shooting and what three men detained during the incident have described.

“It almost looks like it’s two different incidents,” Rep. Sylvia Garcia told CNN on Saturday after separately visiting two of the men in a detention facility. “ICE is playing their usual playbook of the car was weaponized when both of them independently have said that the van never touched theirs.”

And underneath the sparring between jurisdictions, one Texas family is left to grapple with its grief over losing the beloved father of three.

At a vigil Saturday morning, standing in front of a picture of his dad flashing a wide smile, Ronaldo Salgado acknowledged all the times he’s been told his father would be proud of him since he passed.

“I don’t think I’ll ever believe that if I don’t hear it from him,” he said through tears to the group of mourners. “So, I really hope I’m making him proud. I really hope that he’s proud of the big brother I’ve become, of the man that I’ve become today, and I will continue to keep fighting for him.”

A familiar scene emerged later that day – one seen in other states that had grappled with the loss of a community member who had been shot by ICE. Hundreds gathered under the rain at a protest outside Houston City Hall demanding justice for Salgado Araujo. Protesters held signs that read “Vote like your father’s life depends on it” and “End the impunity for killer ICE.”

At a Sunday evening community vigil in Houston, Mauri Bird Lucas told CNN affiliate KHOU, “It’s up to each of us to stand up, speak up, show up in any way that we can to show that we care for Mr. Lorenzo and his family.”

“I’m in the second half of my life, I’m a White woman, I have privilege and I understand that,” Bird Lucas said. “And it just breaks my heart that in this day and age, people see color and use that as a weapon.”

Six months ago, hundreds in Minneapolis marched in the freezing rain to demand accountability for the fatal shooting of Renée Good by an ICE agent.

Local groups across the country planned to hold vigils and other events on Sunday, including in New Jersey, California, Arizona and Baltimore. In Houston, protesters will rally again at City Hall on Tuesday, coinciding with the city council’s previously scheduled meeting and public comment session, according to local organizations.

Men who witnessed shooting say ICE statement is false, attorney says

Men who were riding in Salgado Araujo’s work van told attorney Hugo Balderas-Ibarra and Garcia the version of events that ICE presented is false.

“At no point did they use the van to ram into the ICE agents and at no point were these ICE agents’ lives ever in any danger,” the lawyer said in a video posted to his Instagram.

CNN has reached out to him and ICE for comment.

Two of the men, one of whom is Salgado Araujo’s brother, told Garcia three SUVs had been following the van before the agents’ vehicles bumped into them and then swayed into the van, forcing them to stop. The agents never identified themselves to the men, they told Garcia.

The men told Garcia agents had exited their vehicles and run toward the van, she told CNN. They pulled out the passengers as one of the agents fired one shot at Salgado Araujo, she said they told her.

“They got out of their cars, directly went to the passenger side, pulled them out, and then while they were doing that … the shooter shot at Mr. Salgado,” Garcia said the men told her.

They then immediately restrained the men without administering first aid or immediately calling 911 for Salgado Araujo, Garcia said, citing the two men.

“They never gave him an opportunity. They never gave him a warning,” she said. “He was shot with a seat belt on, and Mr. Salgado had to remove his seat belt, get out of the car.”

When he did, “he was thrown to the ground” and an agent’s knee restrained Salgado Araujo, Garcia said.

ICE said in a previous statement emergency services were contacted immediately after Salgado Araujo was shot.

At a news conference Friday, Garcia also said federal officials’ account about the “targeted operation” appeared different from what she was told by acting ICE director David Venturella on Thursday.

Salgado Araujo was not the target of the operation, a source familiar with preliminary details about the incident told CNN on Thursday and local officials later said during a news conference Friday, citing Venturella.

Before Tuesday’s encounter, Texas authorities had notified ICE about two people — neither of them Salgado Araujo — believed to be in the US without legal status and traveling in a white van, according to the source.

On Tuesday, “Officers were almost at the target’s address when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop,” a Homeland Security official told CNN. The van was registered to Salgado Araujo, whom agents determined to be in the country illegally, the source said.

CNN has reached out to DHS for clarity about the differing accounts.

“Their descriptions of the events has moved a number of times since Tuesday morning. So it’s one of the reasons that it is so critical for all investigative agencies to be in the same room and to collaborate,” Teare told CNN on Saturday.

Lack of video evidence leaves questions unanswered

The moments before and after the deadly confrontation were captured by local businesses’ surveillance cameras and a bystander’s cellphone. But footage central to the investigation is missing: the interaction between ICE agents and Salgado Araujo as the trigger was pulled.

Videos obtained by CNN show Salgado Araujo’s white work van being trailed by black SUVs without apparent law enforcement markings.

One surveillance video appears to show the van briefly stopping before reversing, then slowly driving on the sidewalk as agents chase it on foot. It’s unclear what occurred between Salgado Araujo and ICE officers during the brief stop.

A bystander video taken less than a minute later shows a federal agent on the phone kneeling over a wounded man who’s lying face down and moaning in pain beside a white van parked near a barbershop.

“He was screaming for help and screaming that he was in pain” as the right side of his stomach bled, said Juliet Martinez, a Houston resident who recorded the video and shared it with CNN.

“He yelled, ‘Help me! They shot me!’”

DHS has not released footage of the shooting, and none of the agents had been issued body cameras, a spokesperson said. Body cameras had been deployed to more than half of ICE field offices nationwide, with the rest expected to get them within 60 days, the spokesperson added. CNN has asked DHS about any available dashcam footage.

The absence of official footage has renewed questions about transparency and accountability in immigration enforcement operations months after a federal judge in Chicago ordered immigration agents involved in enforcement there to wear and activate body cameras.

Investigations are underway

The DHS Office of the Inspector General is now leading an investigation into the shooting, according to ICE. The FBI’s Houston field office is also investigating the alleged assault on a federal law enforcement officer.

“If the officers acted outside policy or illegally, they’ll be held accountable,” White House border czar Tom Homan told reporters Friday.

But Texas Democratic lawmakers, activists and Salgado Araujo’s family are demanding a more in-depth investigation into his killing, with the civil rights group League of United Latin American Citizens offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest. And local officials, including the Harris County district attorney and the Houston mayor, have expressed frustrations about federal officials withholding evidence from the shooting.

The Harris County District Attorney’s Office is pursuing its own investigation and independently collecting information on the shooting, though “access to key evidence remains under federal control,” spokesperson Rafael Lemaitre said.

“We’ve already spent days collecting surveillance footage, not just from the scene, but from all different areas around there. We’ve mapped the scene using drones and lasers. We have put out our own secure portal for the community and the public to help us,” Teare, the district attorney, told CNN on Saturday.

Balderas-Ibarra, who represents two of the passengers who were in the van with Salgado Araujo during the incident, called for his clients’ immediate release from ICE’s Montgomery Processing Center in Conroe, Texas, during Friday’s news conference. Neither of their names has been released publicly by officials.

Salgado Araujo’s brother wants to remain in the US to seek justice for his brother, Ruby Powers, the Houston-based immigration attorney representing him, told CNN on Friday.

Meanwhile, the Mexican government moved Friday to elevate its concerns beyond diplomatic protest as it sought criminal investigations in the US and demanded accountability for 17 Mexican citizens who have died in ICE’s custody or enforcement operations, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said.

A Homeland Security Committee letter to Secretary Markwayne Mullin demands evidence related to the shooting, including body camera footage with an explanation if no such video exists, details on how officers identified themselves, records related to the officers involved and any evidence supporting the government’s account of events.

Salgado Araujo’s cause of death was a gunshot wound to the torso and the manner of death was ruled a homicide, the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences told CNN on Thursday.

His body was picked up by the funeral home Friday after the autopsy was conducted. The family is also pursuing an independent autopsy, LULAC National President Roman Palomares said.

Garcia said Friday the ICE agents involved in the incident “were removed from Houston the very next day.”

CNN has asked DHS how many agents were involved in the incident, their rank within the department and if they had been reassigned or were placed on administrative leave.

Father had sought legal status

Like most days, Salgado Araujo left his home Tuesday to head to Houston’s predominantly Hispanic East End to pick up the rest of his construction crew — his brother and two others — before driving north to work on some homes, the family said.

Shortly before 7 a.m., ICE agents tried to stop him, the agency said.

Salgado Araujo’s family said they believe the hardworking father of three would have stopped if he had known the car following him belonged to ICE.

Salgado Araujo had spent three decades living and working in the US while providing for his family and progressing toward a work permit, his son said.

He had prepared for the possibility of an encounter with federal immigration authorities, his son said. The father had consulted attorneys and planned to decline signing any documents before calling his wife or son to help secure his release, if ever detained.

He was also “close to obtaining his legal status,” Ronaldo Salgado said.

“We dotted every ‘i,’ crossed every ‘t,’ filled every document, attended every appointment.”

Salgado Araujo did not appear to have a criminal record, according to the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Salgado Araujo’s sons want the world to remember their father not for how he died but for the life he built as a husband, father and business owner who believed in the American dream.

Community members came together for the vigil Saturday morning at the Service Employees International Union Texas office in Houston.

“My federal government took away my father,” Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said at the vigil. “We the people will bring justice.”

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CNN’s Ashley Killough, Dalia Faheid, Ed Lavandera, Taylor Galgano and Karina Tsui contributed to this report.