ICE Agent Takes Down Supervisor Who Reportedly Shot High-Ranking Superior in Federal Office Building
In what is described as an unprecedented incident, an unidentified supervisory agent of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly shot and killed another ICE supervisor last night at a federal office building in California after the colleague shot another high-ranking official six times during a job-performance counseling session.
Despite the six shots fired at him, Kevin Kozak, 51, who serves as deputy special agent in charge of the Los Angeles area, survived and is in stable condition, alert and talking, at a local hospital, the Associated Press reports.
His alleged assailant, Ezequiel Garcia, 45, was shot and killed by an unidentified ICE agent during the incident at ICE offices in Long Beach.
The supervisory agent who shot Garcia has been placed on administrative leave, and Long Beach police, the FBI and ICE’s office of professional responsibility are investigating what apparently is likely to be determined a justified shooting of Garcia, according to the news agency and the Los Angeles Times’ L.A. Now blog.
“We are doing everything humanly possible to understand why it happened and to ensure it will not happen again,” said Claude Arnold, a special ICE agent in charge, at a news conference today.
He credited Kozak’s survival to “the heroic action of another ICE supervisor.”
In addition to ICE, the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Probation and Parole Office are housed in the federal building in Long Beach.
Garcia had previously filed an unsuccessful lawsuit claiming that he had been roughed up by Los Angeles police while working undercover. A federal jury found in the police department’s favor in 2005.
Reuters and the Wall Street Journal (sub. req.) also have stories.
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