PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — The FBI said in a court document made public Monday that it had found no surveillance or other video of a Border Patrol agent shooting and wounding two people in a pickup truck during an immigration enforcement operation in Portland, Oregon, last week.
Agents told investigators that one of their colleagues opened fire Thursday after the driver put the truck in reverse and slammed into an unoccupied car the agents had rented, smashing its headlights and knocking off its front bumper. The truck then pulled forward, and the agents said they feared for their own safety and that of the public, the document said.
The FBI has interviewed four of the six agents on the scene; however, it did not specify if the agent who fired the shots was among them.
The shooting, which came one day after another federal agent shot and killed a driver in Minneapolis, prompted protests over federal agents’ aggressive tactics during immigration enforcement operations. The Department of Homeland Security has stated that the two people in the truck entered the U.S. illegally and were affiliated with the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua.
None of the six agents was recording body camera footage, and investigators have uncovered no surveillance or other video footage of the shooting, FBI Special Agent Daniel Jeffreys wrote in an affidavit supporting aggravated assault and property damage charges against the driver, Luis David Nino-Moncada.
The truck drove away after the shooting, which occurred in the parking lot of a medical office building. Nino-Moncada called 911 after arriving at an apartment complex several minutes later. He was placed in FBI custody after being treated for gunshot wounds to the arm and abdomen.
During an initial appearance Monday afternoon in federal court in Portland, he wore a white sweatshirt and sweatpants and appeared to hold out his left arm gingerly at an angle. An interpreter translated the judge’s comments for him. The judge ordered that he remain in detention and scheduled a preliminary hearing for Wednesday.
His passenger, Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, was also hospitalized after being shot in the chest and is currently held at a private immigration detention facility in Tacoma, Washington, as indicated by an online detainee locator system maintained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Nino-Moncada and Zambrano-Contreras are Venezuelan nationals who entered the U.S. illegally in 2022 and 2023, respectively. The Department of Homeland Security identified Nino-Moncada as an associate of Tren de Aragua and Zambrano-Contreras as involved in a prostitution ring run by the gang.
Attorney General Pam Bondi commented on the charges against Nino-Moncada, emphasizing that “anyone who crosses the red line of assaulting law enforcement will be met with the full force of this Justice Department.” She remarked that Nino-Moncada, identified as an illegal alien with ties to a foreign terrorist organization, should never have been in the U.S. and will be held accountable to ensure he remains out of the country.
Oregon Federal Public Defender Fidel Cassino-DuCloux, who represents Nino-Moncada, did not immediately respond to messages seeking comment. He mentioned to The Oregonian/OregonLive that the federal shooting and subsequent accusations against Nino-Moncada and his passenger follow “a well-worn playbook that the government has developed to justify the dangerous and unprofessional conduct of its agents.”
Portland Police Chief Bob Day confirmed last week that the pair had a “some nexus” to the gang. The two came to police attention during an investigation of a July shooting believed to have been carried out by gang members but were not identified as suspects at that time. Zambrano-Contreras had been previously arrested for prostitution, with Nino-Moncada present when a search warrant was executed in that case.
