ST. AUGUSTINE, FL — A 28-year-old Mexican man fleeing federal immigration agents on Tuesday morning in St. Augustine died after being hit by a semi-truck, according to multiple reports.
This is the third death involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in one week.
The man was hit by the truck just before 7 a.m. as he ran from ICE and Homeland Security Investigations agents, the Miami Herald reported.
The victim was among four people who stopped at a Wawa gas station parking lot on State Road 16 when they encountered the ICE and Homeland Security agents, First Coast News said. All four ran from the area during the encounter.
As the victim ran across a busy road, he was hit by an oncoming semi-truck and pronounced dead at the scene, Fox News said.
The truck’s 64-year-old driver stopped to render aid, reports said.
In a statement, the Department of Homeland Security told ABC News, “On July 14, DHS law enforcement conducted an operation near St. Johns, Florida. Florida Highway Patrol and HSI are investigating an incident resulting in the death of a Mexican national. We will provide an update when available."
"Shock, dismay, sadness that a person was so terrified of being caught by ICE that he ran across a highway," Maria Garcia with the Jacksonville Immigrant Rights Alliance, told First Coast News. "This was somebody's son, this was somebody's baby. A brother, a family member, just gone."
This incident happened the same day that ICE was ordered to temporarily end vehicle stops following two recent deadly shootings, NPR said.
Mexican national Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, was shot to death by an ICE officer during a July 7 traffic stop in Houston.
Johan Sebastián Guerrero, 26, was fatally shot by an ICE agent trying to stop the car he was driving in Biddeford, Maine, on Monday, reports said.
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