Border Patrol Agents Shoot and Injure Two People in Portland, Authorities Say

Border Patrol agents shot and injured two people in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, local and federal officials said, prompting calls from city leaders for immigration authorities to cease operations and exit the city.

The incident comes just one day after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a 37-year-old U.S. citizen in Minneapolis, prompting a nationwide outcry over the Trump administration’s increasingly aggressive deportation efforts.

“We cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said in a statement following the Thursday shooting. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarized agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”

The Department of Homeland Security framed the two incidents in similar terms — with spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin claiming that the shooting in Portland was carried out in self defense after a driver “weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents.”

When asked about the statement at a press conference later Thursday evening, Portland Police Chief Bob Day responded: “We don’t have any information on that.”

“We are still in the early stages of this incident,” Day said. “We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more.”

The shooting occurred just before 2:30 p.m. local time while Border Patrol agents were conducting a vehicle stop, McLaughlin said. Witnesses told The Oregonian that the incident occurred in the parking lot of a medical clinic in Southeast Portland.

According to McLaughlin, one of the vehicle’s passengers was alleged to be affiliated with Tren de Aragua, a Venezuelan gang repeatedly invoked by the Trump administration to justify its aggressive immigration tactics.

“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired defensive shots. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene,” McLaughlin added.

The Portland Police Bureau wrote in a statement that the driver called 911 for help, and that police “responded and found a male and female with apparent gunshot wounds” at a separate location in Northeast Portland.

A graphic by the Portland Police Department shows the location where two people were shot by federal immigration agents, and the separate location where they were found by local police and treated for their wounds. Courtesy of Portland Police Department

Local police provided medical assistance to the injured and summoned emergency medical services to the scene.

Their condition was not immediately apparent.

FBI Portland said in a statement to NOTUS that it’s “investigating an assault on a federal officers [sic]” in relation to the incident, and said two Customs and Border Protection agents were involved.

“The two assailants fled the scene immediately following the shooting and are currently being treated for their injuries,” an FBI Portland spokesperson wrote.

Oregon Democrats in Congress took to social media to respond as the news broke Thursday afternoon, calling for federal immigration agents to leave the region immediately.

Earlier on Thursday, the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension said that the federal government was excluding them from the investigation into the Minneapolis shooting — prompting concerns among some Oregon politicians that an investigation into the Portland shooting may also face similar challenges.

“My concern is that we have a head of DHS, Kristi Noem, who’s already yesterday shown that she’s not interested in investigating or finding facts, but rather, jumping to blame the victim,” Rep. Val Hoyle said in a video posted to X on Thursday.

Rep. Maxine Dexter wrote on X that the two individuals were injured in her district.

“ICE has done nothing but inject terror, chaos, and cruelty into our communities. Trump’s immigration machine is using violence to control our communities,” Dexter wrote. “ICE must immediately end all active operations in Portland.”

Rep. Janelle Bynum, who represents a district near Portland, called the act “state-sponsored terrorism,” and called the presence of federal personnel in Oregon “unwelcome and unhelpful.”

“This is the second shooting this week by agents following the orders of a wannabe dictator,” Bynum wrote. “Today, we saw just how dangerous this is — we need these goons gone.”