Immigration agents fatally shot Houston man while pursuing different target

The Department of Homeland Security said officers were searching for a different man when they shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo during a traffic stop in Houston’s East End and Magnolia Park area on July 7. The department said officers had spent weeks surveilling a Houston residence after getting a credible tip from law enforcement partners, noticed two white vans at the property, and stopped Salgado Araujo’s van because he resembled the target.

The stop happened around 6:50 a.m. during a targeted enforcement operation. DHS later said the officers involved were not wearing body-worn cameras or dashboard cameras, leaving no video of the encounter. The Harris County Medical Examiner ruled Salgado Araujo’s death a homicide and listed the cause as a penetrating gunshot wound of the torso.

Salgado Araujo was 52 and had lived in the United States for nearly 35 years, relatives said. Family members said he had no criminal convictions and was driving a construction crew to a homebuilding site when he was killed. He had been working toward legal status, relatives said.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia said ICE told her Salgado Araujo was not the intended target, and that agents had administrative warrants for someone else. Garcia also said the officers were not wearing body cameras. She said the warrants were for two Guatemalan immigrants.

Garcia, the League of United Latin American Citizens, the Texas Civil Rights Project and FIEL Houston have called for an independent investigation and the release of evidence. Local residents gathered with candles and flowers after the shooting. Human Rights Watch said the killing fit a broader pattern of fatal incidents involving federal immigration agents over the past two years. Mexico said it was preparing legal action and criminal complaints over the death.