A man from Honduras was wounded Wednesday morning after a shooting during a traffic stop involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) near Phoenix, Arizona.
The shooting happened at 4 a.m. Wednesday after ICE officers pulled over Jose Garcia-Sorto along Interstate 17 in north Phoenix.
Garcia-Sorto, the driver, initially stopped but started to pull away as the officers walked up to his vehicle, the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) told Fox News Digital.
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It is unclear why Garcia-Sorto was stopped.
"As officers approached the vehicle, Garcia-Sorto began to pull away," said DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin. "As the vehicle abruptly began speeding away, an officer was in the path of the vehicle. Fearing for his life, the officer defensively discharged his service weapon two times striking Garcia-Sorto’s vehicle."
The officer who fired his gun was taken to the hospital for evaluation, officials said.
Garcia-Sorto was also taken to the hospital for treatment of a wound, and remains in stable condition.
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"These are the consequences of conduct and rhetoric by dishonest politicians who spew misinformation and activists who urge illegal aliens to resist arrest," McLaughlin said. "Resisting arrest puts the safety of illegal aliens, law enforcement, and the public at risk. Our law enforcement officers are facing a more than 1000% increase in assaults against them including vehicle rammings by illegal aliens. We are once again calling on sanctuary politicians, agitators, and the media to turn the temperature down and stop calling for violence and resistance against ICE law enforcement."
McLaughlin added arrest evasions have come after sanctuary politicians allegedly held webinars, providing resources and tips for how to openly defy ICE.
Garcia-Sorto's wife, Anahi, told local outlet Arizona's Family her husband was on his way to work when the shooting occurred.
"He would get home and hug the [two] kids," Anahi told the outlet. "And to see that he didn’t get here yesterday, it really hurts a lot, because I always wait for him here [at home]."
She said she heard about the shooting after family members saw it on the news and officials have not given her information about the incident.
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"They (law enforcement) don’t wanna say anything to me," Anahi told the outlet. "They’re only saying that he’s in the hospital, but that he’s in there with a different name, and that they don’t want him to talk, and no one can visit him."
The FBI is investigating the shooting, according to DHS.
Anahi allegedly admitted to Arizona's Family that she and her husband are in the country illegally, but told the outlet she is praying for ICE.
"What they’re (ICE) doing is bad, but I don’t wish anything bad towards them, because I am not God to judge them," Anahi said. "I pray for them."
The outlet reported she will return to Honduras with her children if Garcia-Sorto is deported.
The northbound exit ramp at Dove Valley Road was closed during the investigation, according to the Arizona Department of Transportation. It has since reopened.
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