Several people were arrested after shots were fired, bricks were hurled and at least one car crashed into a cop Saturday during a standoff between residents and federal agents conducting immigration enforcement operations Saturday in Little Village.
Chicago police took at least five people into custody after the chaotic situation, which began about 9:30 a.m. in the 2500 block of South Kedzie Avenue and ended hours later in the early afternoon.
Of the five, the most serious charge was leveled against Hector Gomez, 45, who remains in custody accused of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, police said.
Gomez is not charged with firing the gun. Court records show he allegedly pointed a nine-millimeter gun at a woman who was a protester.
Officers spoke to the woman who told them Gomez “had been walking toward her with firearm in his right hand while laughing profusely and then pointing the firearm in her direction placing her in immediate fear that she would receive a battery,” according to court records.
Police officers approached the black Jeep Gomez was inside, “opened the doors and observed [Gomez] sitting in the driver’s seat with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun in his lap,” court records showed.
The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that a man in a black Jeep fired shots at them and fled the scene as they conducted operations near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue.
Gomez, who was ordered to remain detained at his court hearing Sunday, is due back in court Friday.
Four other men were charged with reckless conduct and felony aggravated battery to a peace officer.
As police began responding to the shots fired call, “several requests for assistance” came in, according to a police report. “Upon arrival, responding officers observed a large hostile crowd engaging and interfering with multiple US Custom and Border Patrol agents,” the report said.
The situation continued to “escalate,” according to the report, which said some in the crowd began throwing bricks, according to the report.
Agents retreated and detectives later found a crime scene at 2513 S. Kedzie Ave., where two spend shell casings were found on a sidewalk, the report said. It was not clear yet who fired the gun.
After agents had left the area Saturday afternoon, four additional arrests were made near 23rd Street and Sawyer Avenue in a related incident as the situation remained tense between onlookers, protesters and officers.
Kai Movagh, 31, was charged with felony aggravated battery to a peace officer while Demarco Urbina, 20, Eduardo Lopez, 43, and Julian Sosa, 18, were all charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct, officials said.
One individual used a shoe to repeatedly strike an unmarked car and broke a taillight of a marked CPD squad car. The windshield of the same squad car was also cracked by what appeared to be a paintball.
Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said in a Monday statement an arrest has been made but did not identify the suspect.
“A criminal illegal alien from Mexico has been arrested in relation to Saturday’s shooting targeting Border Patrol agents in Chicago,” McLaughlin said in the statement. “The suspect has a previously been convicted for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon/vehicle, felony possession of a weapon, and illegal entry.”
“He is currently marked as a violator of the Laken Riley Act, pending charges related to assaulting officers,” McLaughlin said in the statement.
“This incident is not isolated and reflects a growing and dangerous trend of violence and obstruction. Over the past two months, we’ve seen an increase in assaults and obstruction targeting federal law enforcement during operations,” McLaughlin said in the statement. “These confrontations highlight the dangers our agents face daily and the escalating aggression toward law enforcement.”
Police scanner traffic showed there was confusion and scrambling among Chicago police to respond to the shots fired, the crowds that had gathered and the immigration enforcement activity in the area.
More cars were dispatched to 26th Street and Kedzie and 25th Street and Whipple Avenue around the time the shots were fired. Chicago police were seen rerouting traffic away from 23rd Street and Sawyer Avenue for an investigation.
Around 9:45 a.m., there was also a report of a Chicago police officer down after being hit by a car at 26th Street and Kedzie. After the crash, federal agents warned Chicago police they planned to release tear gas, but they never released it.
Contributing: Tom Schuba