A federal immigration officer fired seven rounds during an enforcement operation in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, striking Oscar Belgal, a 28-year-old man from the Dominican Republic, in the neck. The shooting has prompted New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Gov. Kathy Hochul to press President Donald Trump and Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin over federal immigration enforcement in the city.
Belgal was shot below his left ear. He arrived at NewYork-Presbyterian Allen Hospital in stable condition. NPR reported the number of rounds, citing NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. Federal authorities removed Belgal from the hospital late Thursday night and took him away, AP reported. The base article doesn’t say where they took him.
The federal operation
The Department of Homeland Security said Belgal was the target. The department described the man it sought to arrest as a “criminal illegal alien” with a grand larceny conviction and a history of other arrests. It didn’t explain why the officer fired. The account provided doesn’t include a statement from the officer or further details about the circumstances of the shooting.
A 5-year-old boy, believed to be Belgal’s son, was inside his vehicle during the incident. Police later found the child safe and in the care of a family member. The article reports no injuries to the child and gives no further details about his presence in the vehicle or the events surrounding the shooting.
Calls to halt enforcement
Mamdani called the shooting an outrage and said ICE undermines public safety. He called for the abolition of ICE and urged the Trump administration to halt immigration enforcement operations in New York City. On Thursday night, Mamdani said he spent two hours pressing Trump and Mullin to release Belgal. Federal authorities removed Belgal from the hospital later that night.
Hochul, also a Democrat, said she delivered a similar message to Trump and Mullin by phone. Her statement, as described in the article, also concerned the federal operation and Belgal’s release. The account doesn’t say whether Trump or Mullin responded to either elected official’s request.
Protesters and local officials criticized the operation as an example of the dangers of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown. Their criticism puts the shooting at the center of a dispute between federal enforcement and local opposition to ICE operations. The reported demands concern whether those operations should continue in the city; the federal department’s account identifies Belgal as the target but leaves the reason the officer fired unexplained.
The article supplies no citywide immigration figures, demographic trends, or broader data about the effects of enforcement on residents. The known details are limited to the federal operation, the shooting, the child’s presence and safety, and the public calls by Mamdani, Hochul, protesters, and local officials. The dispute hasn’t changed the reported fact that federal authorities took Belgal from the hospital late Thursday night.