Federal Border Patrol Agent Shoots and Wounds Two People in Portland Traffic Stop
PORTLAND, Ore. — Two people were shot and wounded Thursday afternoon by a U.S. Border Patrol agent during a vehicle stop in Southeast Portland, local and federal officials confirmed, underscoring rising tensions over immigration enforcement in the city.
The shooting happened around 2:15 p.m. near the Adventist Health Portland campus when Border Patrol agents attempted a “targeted vehicle stop,” according to the Department of Homeland Security. Federal officials said the vehicle’s driver allegedly tried to use the truck to strike agents, prompting an agent to fire a defensive shot.
Portland police later located the male driver and female passenger near Northeast 146th Avenue and Burnside Street. Officers applied a tourniquet and called emergency medical crews, who transported both to a hospital; their current conditions have not been released.
The DHS claims both occupants were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, though local authorities have not independently verified that assertion and have called for transparency.
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Mayor Keith Wilson said federal officials’ account raised concerns, calling for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to halt operations in Portland while the investigation continues. “We are calling on ICE to halt all operations until a full investigation can take place,” he said.
The FBI’s Portland field office is leading an investigation into the shooting; the department classified the incident as an assault on a federal officer.
The incident follows another fatal shooting by an ICE officer in Minneapolis just a day earlier, intensifying national scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement tactics.
Protests have sprung up outside the local ICE facility in response, with demonstrators demanding accountability and transparency.
Officials say more details are expected as the investigation unfolds.
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