An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent was hit by a van during an attempted arrest in South Jersey on Monday, police said.
ICE was conducting an operation in Manahawkin, New Jersey, to arrest a Peruvian illegal alien with a final order of removal, Stafford Township police said. The alien allegedly fled the scene and struck an agent with his van. The agent then discharged his weapon at the vehicle and was hospitalized.
According to press releases from the
Stafford Township Police Department, dispatch received reports of
shots fired and an injured officer on State Route 72. Officers responded to the scene, finding an ICE agent injured.
Photos and
chopper cam footage posted on social media showed the injured officer lying in the road. Stafford Township police rendered first aid and facilitated his transport to a local hospital. Route 72 was closed for several hours while police and the FBI investigated the scene.
ICE provided a full breakdown of the incident on X.
"On June 15, 2026, ICE law enforcement officers were conducting a targeted vehicle stop in Manahawkin, New Jersey to arrest Freidrich Castillo-Ormeno, an illegal alien from Peru who was released into our country under the Biden administration," the agency
wrote on X. "He was given a final order of removal by an immigration judge on January 30, 2026. ICE law enforcement officers attempted to conduct a vehicle stop. The driver then weaponized his vehicle and struck an officer resulting in the officer discharging his weapon. The driver fled the scene and remains at-large."
Philadelphia-based news outlet
NBC10 reported that the officer's gunshot shattered the back window of the suspect's van. A witness provided further details.
"They tell him to roll down his window, he's inching forward and you can tell it's getting tense by his inching forward. As soon as he gunned it, you just see the the front of the van, pin the lower half of the officer's body into the officer's car," Stafford Township resident Payton Johnson told NBC10. "You just see the guy's body just get twisted and mangled and in that twist, you know, he then pulled out his gun and shot at the van.”
Stafford Township police were not participating in the ICE operation in accordance with New Jersey's
Immigrant Trust Directive, a 2018 order from the Attorney General's Office that restricts the ability of state and local law enforcement agencies to comply with federal immigration law enforcement. They did, however, attempt to locate the suspect who fled the scene of the incident before arriving on scene.
New Jersey has become a flash point for the immigration debate. Several local officials and members of Congress initiated tensions in
May 2025 when they attempted to breach the security door of an ICE detention center in Newark. During the ensuing protest, Rep.
LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) allegedly assaulted agents, and was federally charged for her actions.
Protests resumed again late May. On May 30, the FBI
arrested a man who threatened to kill an ICE agent and his family.
“I have your face, your whole family is dead," he yelled. “Your wife, your children, are dead.”
