(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Federal authorities announced Thursday the launch of an investigation into an alleged shooting at an Arizona federal immigration facility.
The FBI said the shooting occurred Tuesday afternoon outside the Enforcement and Removal Operations building on North Central Avenue in Phoenix, Arizona.
No one was injured in connection with the incident, the bureau said on X.
FBI Phoenix Investigates Shooting Incident at Federal ERO Building
Anyone who witnessed suspicious activity in the area of North Central Avenue on Tuesday, July 14, in the afternoon, or who has information regarding this shooting, is urged to contact the FBI:
•Call the FBI… pic.twitter.com/NBLoy0hHxF— FBI Phoenix (@FBIPhoenix) July 16, 2026
The FBI said that a preliminary investigation suggests that one or more unidentified individuals discharged “several rounds that struck the exterior on various parts of the structure.”
Video recorded by the outlet Rapid Report shows a glass window broken by what appears to be a gunshot.
NEW: Gunfire reported at Phoenix ICE facility as FBI launches investigation pic.twitter.com/wErA6urcq6
— Rapid Report (@RapidReport2025) July 16, 2026
The alleged incident comes as the Trump administration has sounded the alarm about an increase in violence targeting federal immigration agents and officers.
Meanwhile, Democrats have increased their scrutiny of the DHS amid a series of deadly incidents involving individuals targeted during immigration operations.
Democrats have cited those incidents, along with other alleged missteps by DHS, as they criticize the agency’s immigration enforcement operations.
Last month, Headline USA spoke exclusively with a man whom DHS initially misidentified as the perpetrator of a car assault involving an ICE agent.
The man, initially identified as Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno, had self-deported to Peru in March, making it unlikely that he was the perpetrator.
DHS later clarified that it did not technically identify Castillo-Ormeno as the suspect. However, its initial statement said an ICE agent had been struck by a vehicle while conducting an immigration operation at Castillo-Ormeno’s former address.
It remains unclear why ICE was conducting an operation at Castillo-Ormeno’s previous address, as he was no longer in the country and had already received the Trump-backed bonus for self-deportees.
Castillo-Ormeno has since considered taking legal action to clear his name. During his brief stay in the United States, he had a child who is now a U.S. citizen due to birthright citizenship.
DHS also suspended two ICE agents following allegations that they made false statements regarding a Jan. 14 shooting involving a Venezuelan illegal immigrant in Minneapolis.
Shortly after the shooting, DHS claimed the man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, had attacked an ICE agent with a snow shovel and broom handle. Video evidence showed Sosa-Celis retreating to his home before he was struck by gunfire.
Despite the high-profile incidents, DHS has said immigration operations are crucial to locating illegal immigrants who have been convicted of violent crimes while in the United States.
