Jerod MacDonald-Evoy/Arizona Mirror
Audio By Carbonatix
An airplane used for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement deportation efforts was hit by a stray bullet last week during a shootout between Mesa police officers and a suspect at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.
ICE officials said the stray bullet didn’t impact the aircraft’s ability to fly, and it isn’t clear who fired the bullet that struck the plane.
In the early morning hours of Oct. 29, the Mesa Police Department responded to a trespassing call at a private property near the airport, where officers encountered 34-year-old Cameron Oberlin.
Oberlin had already been asked to leave by a private security guard for trespassing. When police arrived, he fled and police used a “grappler device” to stop his car, according to media reports.
Will you step up to support New Times this year?
We’re aiming to raise $30,000 by December 31, so we can continue covering what matters most to you. If New Times matters to you, please take action and contribute today, so when news happens, our reporters can be there.
After a standoff, Oberlin and officers fired at each other and one officer was struck in his right side. That officer has since been released from the hospital, according to a Mesa Police Department spokesperson.
Oberlin died from what Mesa police said was a “self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.”
“A contracted charter aircraft, N801XT, was struck by a stray bullet while parked on the tarmac at Mesa-Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona,” ICE said in a statement to the Arizona Mirror. “The bullet bounced off the plane, and no damage was reported. The incident was reported to the Mesa Police Department. The aircraft was not scheduled for a flight on the day of the incident, and its airworthiness was not affected. Operations were not impacted.”
Mesa police did not provide further information when asked about ICE’s statement and if they had determined who the bullet belonged to.
Arizona, and specifically Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, plays a crucial role in ICE’s aerial deportation efforts, which have surged during President Donald Trump’s second term. The airport hosts the agency’s headquarters for its deportation flights, known informally as “ICE Air,” which uses subcontractors and subleases to disguise deportation aircraft.
The airport is also home to a lesser-known detention facility.
While ICE said the aircraft was not impacted by the bullet, historical flight data shows the aircraft was in use the next day — but its flight was aborted minutes after takeoff when the plane turned around and landed without incident. It has not left the airport since. ICE did not respond to follow up questions about the aborted flight.
The aircraft is owned by Avelo Airlines, which has been making deportation flights out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport amid increasing public scrutiny. The company has begun painting the aircraft it uses all white, removing their livery as protests of Trump’s deportation agenda have intensified.
Prior to being struck by the stray bullet, the aircraft had been regularly flying to other ICE detention facilities, as well as countries, including Honduras and Guatemala.
This story was first published by Arizona Mirror, which is part of States Newsroom, a network of news bureaus supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity.