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ICE Agent Called His Wife and Promised Her BBQ Before He Shot a High-Ranking ICE Official

Screenshot of scene in front of federal building last night (KTLA)

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There was little hint of what was about to come on Thursday evening for the wife of long-time federal immigration officer Ezequiel Garcia.Garcia called his wife Balbina and talked about going to Korean BBQ with her when he got home from work on Thursday, according to the Los Angeles Times. He mentioned that before he could go home he needed to talk to a high-ranking supervisor about his job performance. Garcia had mentioned having problems at work, but he gave little hint at how his day at work would end: Garcia fired six shots at the supervisor Kevin Kozak prompting another agent to fatally shoot Garcia (apparently after a struggle for the gun, the Associated Press reports).

The Times reports that there was a lot of bad news emanating from the ICE office where the shooting occurred:

A high-ranking ICE official and his wife, an intelligence analyst, have been indicted and are on trial in federal court on charges of defrauding the government. Another official, suspected of doctoring his college diploma, has been on leave for more than a year while a grand jury investigates the matter. According to court files, two other ranking supervisors were internally investigated and disciplined for an extramarital affair and related professional misconduct.

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