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Hours before the sun rose over the Valley on Wednesday morning, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot at a driver during a traffic stop along Interstate 17 in north Phoenix, just south of New River. The driver is reportedly in stable condition.
According to authorities, federal agents initiated a traffic stop of Jose Garcia-Sorto, the car’s driver, at around 4 a.m. Garcia-Sorto initially stopped his car but began to pull away as officers approached, according to a statement from ICE provided to Phoenix New Times. It’s unclear why Garcia-Sorto was pulled over, but ICE says he is an undocumented immigrant from Honduras.
ICE claims that as Garcia-Sorto began to speed away, an ICE agent was in his path. The agent — whom ICE has not identified — “fear(ed) for his life” and “defensively discharged his service weapon two times, striking Garcia-Sorto’s vehicle,” according to ICE’s statement. The statement blamed their incident on “dishonest politicians” and “activists who urge illegal aliens to resist arrest.”
Photos from the scene show damage to the driver’s side window of Garcia-Sorto’s car but none to the windshield, as would be expected if Garcia-Sorto was driving directly at the ICE agent who fired. It’s unclear if there was other damage to the vehicle. ICE did not answer a question from New Times about whether the damage to the car’s window was from a bullet or from something else.
Garcia-Sorto was taken to the hospital for “treatment of a wound,” ICE said. The agent who shot him was also taken to the hospital for evaluation.
The FBI and Arizona Department of Public Safety were also on the scene, but not involved with the traffic stop. Around 5:30 a.m., DPS closed off exit ramps around the area — causing major traffic backups — as the FBI began an investigation into a possible assault on a federal officer, according to DPS and FBI statements to New Times. Following the investigation, the results will be turned over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona for a charging decision.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office told New Times that it is unable to respond to media requests because of the government shutdown.
New Times has been unable to confirm or refute ICE’s version of events, though it should be noted that the agency has maintained a very loose relationship with the truth since President Donald Trump returned to the White House in January. ICE has repeated unverifiable claims about supposed assaults on agents — claiming in its statement to New Times that they are up 1,000% — and has been caught on multiple occasions distorting the facts to serve their preferred narrative.
Just last Thursday, federal agents arrested an undocumented man in Avondale who they claim rammed an ICE agent’s vehicle. However, video captured by a neighbor’s doorbell camera showed a different story, suggesting that it was the ICE agent who rammed the man instead. It is not clear if the man in that case, Willian Castillo-Hernandez, has been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the incident.
People First Project founder Clarissa Vela, who responded to the scene of the Avondale arrest last week, is similarly suspicious of ICE’s explanation of Garcia-Sorto’s arrest.
“Something doesn’t smell right here,” she said in a text to New Times.
Another community group, Poder in Action, said it will hold a vigil for Garcia-Sorto outside the Phoenix ICE field office, located at 2035 North Central Avenue, at 6 p.m. Wednesday night.
