Houston law enforcement will not be involved in investigation into deadly shooting involving ICE

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) — As an investigation continues into a shooting involving an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and a man the agency claims was in the country illegally, the City of Houston said it is “monitoring” the situation “very carefully,” but will not be involved.

During Wednesday’s city council meeting, Mayor John Whitmire shared his condolences to the family of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and called the shooting a tragedy, adding that the city is “in touch with federal elected officials, insisting there’s a transparent and independent investigation.”

Whitmire pointed out that the Houston Police Department was not involved in the situation, stating, “I do recognize the good training of HPD and policies of Chief (Noe) Diaz, that there was no involvement of HPD.”

He also said that ICE had also been involved in a chase two days prior, but HPD was not.

Whitmire called it a “tragic, complex issue that’s brought to us by our federal officials.”

As for whether the city would conduct any sort of investigation, Whitmire said: “There cannot be two ongoing investigations, certainly when there’s no jurisdiction by one of them.”

Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare also took to social media to address the situation and said the DA’s office conducts an investigation “parallel to the agency leading the investigation,” but that “unfortunately, at this time, the federal authorities continue exclusively handling all aspects in this case.”

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