Ten people have been arrested so far in a “planned ambush” of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers in north Texas.
On July 4, the Alvarado Police Department announced that one of its police officers had been shot in the neck after responding to a call without stating the incident occurred outside of an immigration facility. It was the first of two officer involved shootings outside of a federal immigration facility in Texas this week, The Center Square first reported.
Since then, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Susan Larson provided more details about an attack that occurred around 11 pm on July 4 at the ICE Prairieland Detention Center in Alvarado, Texas. The facility, which opened in 2017, is owned by the City of Alvarado, operated by LaSelle Corrections and has a 707-bed capacity.
What occurred was “a planned ambush with the intent to kill ICE corrections officers,” Larson said. “Make no mistake, this was not a so-called peaceful protest. It was indeed an ambush” to draw out people from inside “and it worked.”
Larson said that 10-12 people dressed in black, wearing tactical gear and body armor, first shot fireworks at the facility for a period of time before a 911 call was made. Then, “two unarmed corrections officers went outside to speak with the vandals,” she said. Once the first Alvarado Police officer arrived, an assailant hiding in the woods shot him in the neck; another assailant across the street shot 20-30 rounds at the unarmed corrections officers, she said.
After Johnson County sheriff’s deputies arrived, they apprehended multiple individuals attempting to flee who were wearing body armor, some of whom were armed. Deputies also found a jammed AR-style rifle at the scene as well as other weapons, 12 sets of body armor, two-way radios, spray paint, a flag stating “resist fascism, fight oligarchy,” and flyers stating, “fight ICE terror with class war, free all political prisoners.”