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ICE Agent Killed After Shooting Another High-Ranking ICE Official [UPDATED]
An agent for the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) shot and injured a fellow ICE official last night at a federal building in Long Beach last night. Another agent stepped in and fatally shot the gunman.
The agent who was initially targeted turned out to be a top-ranking regional official, according to reports from the Los Angeles Times and the Associated Press. He was taken to a nearby hospital and he is in stable condition.
A person familiar with the case told the AP the shooting happened because of a disciplinary matter. All of the three ICE officials involved were supervisors in the agency. None of their names have been released, but a press conference with more details is scheduled to take place momentarily.
"When something like this happens, it's incomprehensible," Claude Arnold, a special agent in charge for ICE/Homeland Security Investigations in Los Angeles, said at a press conference last night.
The details of the shooting that happened around 6pm at the Glenn M. Anderson Federal Building in Long Beach were hazy last night—and some of the initial reports turned out to be wrong. It was originally reported that the gunman had killed another official, but local law enforcement officials confirmed with City News Service that it was the gunman who was pronounced dead at the scene.
UPDATED 1:45pm: The Associated Press is reporting that Garcia was being counseled on his performance before the shooting. He had requested an internal transfer that Kozak denied.
UPDATED 1:25pm: At a press conference in Long Beach, Arnold released information about two of the agents involved. The deputy targeted was Kevin Kozak, 51, a deputy special agent in charge of the Los Angeles area. The gunman killed was Ezequiel Garcia, 45, an ICE supervisory special agent. The name of the third agent who shot Garcia is being withheld to protect his privacy.
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Although Kozak was shot multiple times, Arnold says that today he is alert and talking.
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