10 Charged With Attempted Murder After Shooting of Police Officer at Texas ICE Facility

Ten people have been charged with the attempted murder of a police officer at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility in Texas over the Fourth of July holiday, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas said on July 8.

The incident took place outside the Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, which is being used to hold people detained for immigration violations or awaiting deportation hearings.

The 10 people named in the complaint are Cameron Arnold, Savanna Batten, Nathan Baumann, Zachary Evetts, Joy Gibson, Bradford Morris, Maricela Rueda, Seth Sikes, Elizabeth Soto, and Ines Soto.

Each of the 10 individuals was charged with three counts of attempted murder of a federal officer and three counts of discharging a firearm in relation to a crime of violence.

According to a criminal complaint filed in the District Court for the Northern District of Texas, on Friday at about 10:37 p.m., a group of 10 to 12 people dressed in all black began shooting fireworks toward the center.

Minutes later, one or two individuals broke off from the group and began to graffiti and damage vehicles in the parking lot at the facility, including spray painting “ICE PIG” on a car, the complaint states.

At about 10:59 p.m., an Alvarado Police Department (APD) officer arrived at the detention center in response to a 911 call by correctional officers seeking assistance, the complaint states.

Immediately after the APD officer stepped out of his vehicle, he was shot in the neck area by one of the individuals in the group, who opened fire at him from nearby woods, according to the complaint.

Another member of the group then opened fire at the unarmed Department of Homeland Security correctional officers, firing 20 to 30 rounds at them, the complaint states.

Police later recovered spent 5.56 caliber casings—which they said is the caliber typically used with AR-15-style rifles—at the locations of both of the shooters, court records state.

Shortly after the shooting, a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office (JCSO) detective en route to the detention center was informed over the radio that a red or maroon Hyundai had been seen fleeing the scene and was headed in the detective’s direction, the complaint states.

According to investigators, the detective pulled the vehicle over for a traffic stop less than a mile away from the center and observed a black pistol in plain view and an AR-15-style rifle in the backseat. Another AR-15-style rifle was allegedly found in the back of the vehicle.

The driver of the vehicle was identified as Morris, who admitted that he had been at the detention center and claimed to have met some people online and transported some of them down from Dallas to the center to “make some noise,” the complaint states.

Morris was immediately taken into custody. Several other suspects who had allegedly fled the scene on foot were also later detained by JCSO deputies responding to the shooting.

Additional firearms, magazines containing ammunition, and 12 sets of body armor were later found during a search of the individuals, vehicles, and the area around the detention center, according to the complaint.

One of the individuals also had a backpack containing spray paint and flyers that said, “Fight ICE terror with class war” and “Free all political prisoners,” the complaint states.

“I am relieved to hear that the officer who was shot is expected to recover from the injuries sustained,” Acting ICE Dallas Field Office Director Josh Johnson said during a July 7 press conference. “Fortunately, no employees at our facilities were harmed during the shooting incident on July 4.”

It is not clear whether the defendants have been assigned attorneys.

“Make no mistake, this was not a peaceful protest,” Acting U.S. Attorney Nancy E. Larson said in a statement. “This was an ambush on federal and local law enforcement officers. This increasing trend of violence against law enforcement will not be tolerated in the Northern District of Texas. Those who use violence against law enforcement officers will be found and prosecuted using the toughest criminal statutes and penalties available.”

The Epoch Times contacted the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Texas for further comment but did not receive a response by publication time.