ICE Shooting in Marble Hill: What Happened and Why Accounts Differ
An ICE officer shot 28-year-old Oscar Belgal in the neck Thursday afternoon in Manhattan's Marble Hill neighborhood while Belgal's child was in the back seat of his car.
The shooting took place around 4 p.m. at 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue, in a district that sits geographically in the Bronx but is administered as part of Manhattan. The Guardian
Belgal refused to exit his car when approached by ICE officers. Reuters At least one agent fired seven rounds at the vehicle, striking Belgal once in the neck. ABC7 CBS He survived and was treated at a hospital. PBS
Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said at a press conference Friday morning in Washington, DC that federal officers did not know a child was in the car. The presence of the child in the rear seat is now a central point of dispute in early accounts of the use of force and the tactics used in the vehicle stop.
Witness accounts focus on identification and confusion at the scene. Orlando Perez, who witnessed the encounter, said the agents who approached Belgal were not in uniform and he did not see badges or gear marking them as ICE. Footage from the aftermath shows a man in a high-visibility vest of the kind worn at construction sites, possibly with a badge on a lanyard, carrying an assault-style rifle. Bystanders in the video can be heard asking each other, 'Is it ICE or not?' Perez said the car Belgal had driven appeared to have bullet holes.
Reports on the number of shots differ slightly. Resident Zachary Miller said he heard six gunshots from his apartment. Carlos Martinez, 18, said he heard five or six shots while eating at the P & P Gourmet Deli across from where the shooting took place.
Federal and city law enforcement said Belgal had prior convictions and was on probation for felony offenses, meaning court-ordered supervision in the community after a conviction. The Trump administration accused him of gang affiliations. The Department of Homeland Security states he is from the Dominican Republic and describes him as a criminal illegal alien. DHS The department published a statement on October 9, 2026 addressing claims about the shooting.
Protests broke out in Marble Hill on Thursday night after the shooting. By Friday afternoon, New York police had removed street barricades but yellow crime scene tape was still visible at 225th Street and Marble Hill Avenue.
The broader context here is that the Marble Hill case brings several long-running frictions into one incident. Plainclothes work, like plainclothes police work, can leave bystanders unsure who is giving orders even if credentials appear later. A vehicle stop where a driver does not comply leaves a short window for decisions on force, and a child passenger brings heavier scrutiny to those decisions. The competing descriptions of Belgal will likely shape official reviews, local political responses, and street-level tensions in the days ahead.
