US immigration agents wound two people in Oregon shooting

The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night.

Federal immigration agents have shot and wounded two people in a vehicle outside a hospital in Portland, a day after an officer killed a woman in Minnesota.

The shooting drew hundreds of protesters to the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement building at night, and Oregon attorney general Dan Rayfield vowed to investigate “whether any federal officer acted outside the scope of their lawful authority” and refer criminal charges to the prosecutor’s office if warranted.

The Department of Homeland Security said the vehicle’s passenger was “a Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who was involved in a recent shooting in the city.

When agents identified themselves to the occupants during a “targeted vehicle stop” in the afternoon, the driver tried to run them over, the department said in a statement.

“Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot,” it said. “The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene.”

There was no immediate independent corroboration of that account or of any gang affiliation of the vehicle’s occupants.

During prior shootings involving agents from President Donald Trump’s immigration crackdowns in US cities, including the fatal one on Wednesday in Minneapolis, video evidence has cast doubt on the administration’s characterisations of what prompted the shootings.

Mr Trump and his allies have consistently blamed the Tren de Aragua gang for being at the root of violence and drug dealing in some US cities.

The Portland shooting escalates tensions in a city that has long had a contentious relationship with Mr Trump, including due to his recent failed effort to deploy National Guard troops there. The city saw long-running nightly protests outside the ICE building.

According to the Portland Police bureau, officers initially responded to a report of a shooting outside Adventist Health hospital at 2.18pm on Thursday.

A few minutes later, police received information that a man who had been shot was asking for help in a residential area a couple of miles away. Officers went there and found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds. Officers determined that they were injured in the shooting with federal agents, police said.

Their conditions were not immediately known. Portland police said officers applied a tourniquet to one of them.

City council president Elana Pirtle-Guiney said during a meeting that “as far as we know, both of these individuals are still alive, and we are hoping for more positive updates throughout the afternoon”.

At a night-time news conference, police chief Bob Day said the FBI was leading the investigation and he had no details about the events that led to the shooting.

Mayor Keith Wilson and the city council called on ICE to end all operations in Oregon’s largest city until a full investigation is completed.

“We stand united as elected officials in saying that we cannot sit by while constitutional protections erode and bloodshed mounts,” they said in a statement. “Portland is not a ‘training ground’ for militarised agents, and the ‘full force’ threatened by the administration has deadly consequences.”

Mr Wilson also suggested at a news conference that he does not necessarily believe the federal government’s account of the shooting: “There was a time we could take them at their word. That time is long past.”

Democratic state senator Kayse Jama, who lives near where it took place, said Oregon is a welcoming state — but he told federal agents to leave.

“You are not welcome,” Mr Jama said. “You need to get the hell out of Oregon.”