ICE Shooting in Ontario on Vineyard Avenue Following Increased Immigration Enforcement
By Miranda Morgan
Yellow tape encircles crime scene following ICE shooting. (Photo by Miranda Morgan)
ONTARIO, CALIF.
The morning of Oct. 30, residents commuting on Vineyard Avenue in Ontario found that the street was mostly blocked off by police tape and numerous unmarked vehicles. A press release from the City of Ontario’s instagram page reveals that this was the result of an ICE-involved detainment and shooting.
According to reports from the LA Times, Tricia McLaughlin (a spokesperson for the Department for Homeland Security) claimed that during an ICE-related traffic stop, a separate individual pulled their car in front of the primary car being stopped. As ICE agents exited the vehicle, the secondary car reversed, attempting to run over the agents.
In response, the federal officials shot towards the man. He exited his vehicle, attempting to flee on foot. He was then apprehended and taken to the hospital. His current condition is unknown, as the information coming from both DHS and OPD (Ontario Police Department) has been sparce.
Ontario Police vehicles and a KTLA van outside crime scene (Photo by Miranda Morgan)
Despite the shooting this morning, ICE agents have continued raids across Ontario. The Home Depot on Euclid Avenue is another hot-spot for raids, according to neighborhood reports through the Ring app.
On the scene, the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice, organized a group of both local and non-local protestors. They carried megaphones, and called out the officials’ cold responses to questions regarding the incident.
Residents on the scene felt shaken. While unwilling to be named, some were willing to give accounts of what they witnessed, and how ICE’s continued presence in the area is affecting their way of living.
One woman, a resident of the area who wished to remain anonymous, heard screaming and gunshots when she woke her young son up for school in the morning.
“I hugged my son, you know, because he was scared. As we were leaving for school we saw the road blocked off with yellow tape,” she stated. “He asked me, ‘Doesn’t yellow tape mean someone died?’ and I didn’t know what to tell him, how would you tell your young son that?”
When asked about how it affects her day-to-day life, she pulled out her passport.
“I have to carry this everywhere now. They’re pulling people off the street left and right.”
Another resident, who also wished to remain anonymous, felt shocked by the situation. The resident explained that she walks to and from work along Vineyard Avenue daily, where the shooting occurred. Working in a local restaurant, she stated that business has changed both in terms of employee and customer turn-out.
This change is largely attributed to fear within the community, as ICE’s presence has increased in the area since September. All the while the Trump Administration has placed increased immigration pressure on Los Angeles and Southern California as a whole.
The resident's statements seem to echo similar sentiments across the protest that occured just outside the crime-scene tape on Vineyard Avenue.
“It’s scary how you don’t expect this in your own backyard, and now it literally is,” one resident said.