US federal agents shot two people in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday afternoon, according to police. The incident came a day after a separate shooting in Minneapolis that left a 37-year-old woman dead, further escalating tensions.
"Two people are in the hospital following a shooting involving federal agents. We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more," police chief Bob Day was quoted as saying by Reuters.
Portland police confirmed that the shooting on Thursday involved US Border Patrol agents and not Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers (ICE).
The agents were carrying out a “targeted vehicle stop” when one agent fired a shot after the driver allegedly attempted to run them over, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said, as cited by the New York Times.
The spokesperson, Tricia McLaughlin, said the agents were targeting an immigrant described as being in the country illegally. She alleged that the individual was a member of Tren de Aragua, a gang that originated in a Venezuelan prison and has been a frequent focus of US President Donald Trump.
No immediate evidence of the alleged gang affiliation was provided.
Officials said the shooting occurred sometime after 2.00 pm (local time) near Adventist Health Portland, a hospital and cluster of health clinics in southeast Portland, about eight miles from the city centre.
The driver fled the scene after agents fired at the vehicle, and police later found two people with gunshot wounds a short distance away.
Emergency medical technicians transported the victims, a man and a woman, to nearby hospitals. Emergency radio communications indicated that both were Spanish speakers. The woman sustained a gunshot wound to the chest, while the man was reported to have suffered two gunshot wounds.
At an impromptu news conference near the shooting site, Nathan Vasquez, the district attorney for Multnomah County, which includes Portland, said the FBI and the city’s police department were present at the scene. He declined to specify which agency was leading the investigation.
Local leaders called for calm, particularly in the aftermath of the fatal shooting of a woman by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Minneapolis on Wednesday. “Please keep protests peaceful,” senator Jeff Merkley, D-Ore, said in a statement. “Trump wants to generate riots. Don’t take the bait.”
Portland Mayor Keith Wilson issued a statement saying the city is now confronting violence at the hands of federal agents.
“We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” the statement read.
Wilson urged ICE to suspend all operations in Portland until the investigation is complete.
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