US Border Agent Shoots, Wounds Two People in Portland

A US immigration agent shot and wounded a man and a woman in Portland, Oregon, on Thursday, authorities said, prompting city officials to urge calm amid heightened tensions following the fatal shooting of a woman by an ICE agent in Minnesota a day earlier.

“We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more,” Portland Police Chief Bob Day said in a statement.

The incident occurred Thursday afternoon as US Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said. According to DHS, the driver — described as a suspected Venezuelan gang member — attempted to use the vehicle as a weapon and run over agents. An agent then fired what DHS called a “defensive shot,” after which the driver and a passenger fled the scene.

Reuters could not independently verify the agency’s account.

Portland police said the shooting took place near a medical clinic in eastern Portland. About six minutes after officers arrived and confirmed federal agents were involved, police were notified that a man and a woman with gunshot wounds had sought help at a location roughly 2 miles (3 km) northeast of the clinic.

Police applied tourniquets to both victims, who were taken to a hospital. Their conditions were not immediately known.

The shooting came one day after a federal agent with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) fatally shot a 37-year-old mother of three inside her vehicle in Minneapolis, an incident that has sparked two days of protests.

ICE and Border Patrol officers have since been deployed in cities across the United States as part of President Donald Trump’s expanded immigration enforcement efforts. While the operations have been praised by Trump’s supporters, Democrats and civil rights groups have criticized them as unnecessarily aggressive.

US officials have argued that suspects and anti-Trump activists have increasingly used vehicles as weapons, though video evidence in some past cases has contradicted those claims.

Portland Mayor Keith Wilson said the city was now confronting violence linked to federal agents and warned of eroding constitutional protections. He called on ICE to suspend operations in Portland pending the outcome of an investigation.

“Federal militarization undermines effective, community-based public safety, and it runs counter to the values that define our region,” Wilson said. “I will use every legal and legislative tool available to protect our residents’ civil and human rights.”