A Saturday morning confrontation between federal immigration agents and a local family in San Bernardino escalated into gunfire and a seven-hour standoff before ending without arrests, according to both advocates and police.
The incident began at about 8:40 a.m. on Aug. 16, when Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers stopped a man in the area, according to the Inland Coalition for Immigrant Justice. The advocacy group said the agents, who did not present a warrant, fired three times at the man’s vehicle before he returned home with his family and called 911.
San Bernardino police confirmed in a statement that officers were dispatched at 8:51 a.m. following reports of shots fired. When officers arrived, they encountered federal agents who told them they had been involved in an officer-involved shooting and that the suspect had fled.
Shortly after, the man contacted police dispatchers himself, saying “masked men” had broken his car window and fired at him, according to the statement. The man, who said he did not know the agents’ identities, requested police assistance. Officers later located him on Mountain View Drive but did not intervene further, citing the California Values Act, which prohibits local law enforcement from assisting with immigration enforcement.
By around 11 a.m., Homeland Security Investigations agents arrived at the residence. Advocates said the family remained inside as multiple police and federal vehicles surrounded the home, and they expressed fear after their car had been struck by gunfire. The Inland Coalition alleged the man had no criminal record and was targeted without legal justification.
San Bernardino police said they were asked to return at about 1:12 p.m. after a crowd began forming around the residence. At that time, federal agents told officers the man was wanted for allegedly assaulting a federal officer, which criminalizes forcibly resisting or impeding federal officers. Police said they provided only “crowd control support” as federal agents attempted to make the arrest.
A spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security said two Customs and Border Protection officers were injured during the encounter when the suspect refused to exit his vehicle and drove toward the officers.
“Because of the subject forcing a CBP officer to discharge his firearm in self-defense, the subject escaped the scene,” the spokesperson said. “After the San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department located the subject at a residence and briefly had him in custody, he was set free. This decision was made despite the subject refusing to comply and wounding two officers another example of California’s pro-sanctuary policies in action.”
Agents left around 3:45 p.m. without detaining the man, ending the standoff.
Federal investigators are now reviewing the circumstances surrounding the officer-involved shooting, according to police.
The Inland Coalition said it is mobilizing to provide the family with legal support.
