ICE Shoots Man In Car On NorCal Highway: Authorities

PATTERSON, CA — A man was injured in a shooting involving U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement officers on Tuesday while he was inside a car on a busy road in Stanislaus County, according to authorities.

The officers were in Patterson conducting a stop targeting Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, who ICE Acting Director Todd Lyons described in a statement as an 18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection with a murder.

As officers approached the car around 6:30 a.m. on State Route 130 near Interstate 5, Hernandez “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over,” according to Lyons, and the officers “fired defensive shots.”

Video obtained by KCRA 3 shows the agents surrounding the car, which reverses in an apparent attempt to escape before going forward and trying to cross the highway divide while officers point guns at the driver.

The news outlet’s helicopter captured footage of the damaged car with several bullet holes in the windshield, KCRA 3 reported, noting Hernandez was in critical condition.

The FBI and Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene, with the FBI taking control of the investigation, according to the sheriff’s office.