A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, on July 7, 2026, in Houston after a mistaken identity during an immigration enforcement operation. The incident, where officers believed Salgado Araujo's van matched a target vehicle for two Guatemalan men subject to deportation, has led to protests and calls for transparency from his family, who describe him as a hardworking father close to obtaining legal status after 35 years in the U.S. According to the U.S. attorney, officers attempted to pull him over twice; during the second attempt, Salgado Araujo tried to reverse and drive forward as an agent was partially inside the van, leading to the shooting.
A memorial grows at the site where Lorenzo Salgado Araujo was fatally shot by ICE agents, last week, on Monday, July 13, 2026, in Houston.
A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, on July 7 as he was driving to a Houston construction job site with three co-workers, one of whom was his brother. The shooting sparked protests in the sprawling Texas city, echoing Salgado Araujo’s family’s calls for transparency. The family describes him as a hardworking father very close to obtaining legal status in the U.S. after living in the country for 35 years.
Aaron Reitz, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Texas, said for the first time on Thursday that ICE officers were targeting two Guatemalan men who were potentially subject to deportation. He said they were driving a van similar to the one Salgado Araujo was driving when he was killed.
In an earlier statement released the day Salgado Araujo was killed, DHS said he was targeted in an immigration enforcement operation, and he was living in the country without legal permission. Reitz also said that the officers believed that Salgado Araujo and the passengers in his car fit the description of the Guatemalan men the agents were looking for. Four officers driving two separate law enforcement vehicles attempted to pull over Salgado Araujo's van using their police lights.
Salgado Araujo then made a U-turn and drove over a median to evade getting pulled over, Reitz said. Later that morning, the officers again encountered Salgado Araujo's van and for the second time tried to pull him over, this time effectively surrounding the vehicle, Reitz said. Two of the four agents got out of their cars and told Salgado Araujo to put the vehicle in park.
Just before he was shot, one of the agents was “partially inside the van or immediately next to it” when Salgado Araujo tried to reverse and then drive forward again, Reitz said. An earlier DHS statement accused Salgado Araujo of weaponizing his vehicle. The agency said he rammed his van into a law enforcement vehicle and said an officer opened fire in self-defense.
The most recent statement from the U.S attorney's office, however, didn't mention any collision between Salgado Araujo's van and a law enforcement vehicle. It also didn't explicitly say that the officer feared for his life. There are no reported injuries for the officers involved. The latest statement didn't name the officer who killed Salgado Araujo, nor did it specify if the officer who fired the shot was the same person who was next to, or partially inside, the van.
Reitz also said in the statement that officers “saw in plain view several small bags of a white, crystal-like substance inside the van” anda search warrant to investigate for possible illicit substances. Salgado Araujo’s brother, who was in the van when the shooting happened, has been in ICE detention since the incident. His attorney said the white substance was a salt mixture that the men used as electrolytes to stay hydrated while doing manual labor in the grueling Texas heat.
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