A federal prosecutor in Texas shared new details about the moments before an immigration officer shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national and longtime U.S. resident, in early July. The disclosure complicates the government’s earlier claim that the man struck an ICE vehicle before he was shot.
Details of the Shooting
Araujo was driving to a Houston construction job site with three co-workers, one of whom was his brother, when he was killed. The shooting sparked protests in Houston, echoing Araujo’s family’s calls for transparency. The family describes him as a hardworking father who was 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 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 Araujo was driving when he was killed. Reitz also said that the officers believed that 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 Araujo’s van using their police lights. 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 Araujo’s van and for the second time tried to pull him over, this time effectively surrounding the vehicle, Reitz said.
Investigation and Aftermath
An earlier DHS statement accused 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. However, the most recent statement from the U.S attorney’s office didn’t mention any collision between Araujo’s van and a law enforcement vehicle. It also didn’t explicitly say that the officer feared for his life.
Araujo’s brother, who was in the van when the shooting happened, has been in ICE detention since the incident. His attorney said that the white substance found in the van was a salt mixture that the men used as electrolytes to stay hydrated while doing manual labor in the grueling Texas heat.
Original reporting: 40/29 / KHBS (NW Arkansas) — read the source article.
