US officials say Houston man shot by ICE was not intended target

Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national who worked as a builder in Houston, was killed after immigration agents stopped his vehicle on Tuesday morning. The Department of Homeland Security said the stop was triggered when agents observed a white van with a person they believed matched the description of a target in an ongoing operation. Officials later stated the officer fired in self-defence after Salgado allegedly tried to evade arrest and struck an ICE vehicle.

The agency added that the agents involved were not wearing body cameras, though half of its field officers now have them and the remainder are expected to receive cameras within 60 days. No video or photographic evidence has been released.

Four Democratic members of Congress have called for an independent investigation, citing concerns over the use of force by ICE. The Mexican government announced plans to file criminal complaints in the United States over the deaths of several of its citizens while in U.S. custody.

"Instead of answers and accountability, DHS and ICE released a statement echoing the same stories we have heard before, claiming an evasion of arrest, weaponisation of a vehicle, and that the fatal shooting was a result of self-defence," the lawmakers wrote in a letter to DHS.

The incident sparked protests in Houston on Wednesday.