Officer Stable After Late-Night Confrontation; DOJ Monitors “Attacks on DHS Facilities”
A police officer was shot in the neck late Friday night outside the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Prairieland Detention Facility, leading to the apprehension of several suspects. The officer has since been treated and released from a Fort Worth hospital.
The incident unfolded just before 11 p.m. on July 4, when Alvarado police responded to a report of a suspicious person in the 1200 block of Sunflower Lane, outside the detention facility. Upon arrival, officers observed an individual who appeared to be carrying a firearm.
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According to a police news release, when a responding officer attempted to engage with the person, an unknown number of suspects opened fire, striking at least one officer in the neck. Following the shooting, several armed suspects attempted to flee the scene but were taken into custody with the assistance of local agencies, including the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.
A federal law enforcement source told CBS News on Saturday that eight people were arrested, with some reportedly wearing body armor. Early reports from the source suggest that more than a dozen masked individuals dressed in black arrived at the facility, vandalized vehicles and security cameras in the parking lot, and launched fireworks, seemingly to lure law enforcement.
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The names of the suspects have not yet been released, and authorities are currently investigating the motive behind the attack. The FBI has declined to comment on the ongoing investigation.
The Justice Department is “closely monitoring” the incident, as stated by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche in a social media post on Saturday morning.
Blanche emphasized the department’s “zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.” He also referenced a similar incident in mid-June outside an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon, where three people were arrested after clashing with law enforcement.
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