Over a thousand demonstrators shouting "ICE out of Houston" protested on Wednesday close to the location where a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed a man heading to work. This incident is part of several deadly clashes amid rising deportation efforts across the country.

The marchers, many waving Mexican flags and holding signs reading "Stand with immigrants" and "ICE Melts in Texas," joined growing calls for an independent inquiry into Tuesday's shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican national who had lived in the US without legal status for three decades.

A group of police officers, some mounted on horseback and wearing helmets with riot gear, blocked nearby streets and patrolled the edges of the demonstration, which remained lively yet calm.

"I feel devastated not only for Lorenzo, but for his family and all of us because it could have been any of us, honestly," said 18-year-old student Ana Daniela.

"My mom literally goes shopping at the Dollar Store across from where he was killed. So to think that it could have been my mom or it literally could have been any of us."

Rally at the Shooting Location

The evening gathering started with several hundred people at the site of the shooting in Houston's largely Hispanic, working-class East End. As the group marched roughly a mile to a nearby park while blowing whistles and chanting "ICE out of Houston, ICE out of everywhere," the crowd grew beyond 1,000.

"We are all in this together, and they are coming for all of us," former City Council member Letitia Plummer called out from the gazebo steps in the park center, where multiple organizers spoke to the assembly.

Around sunset the protesters left voluntarily, though about 100 returned to the shooting site for a quiet candlelight vigil.

The death of Salgado, a construction worker whose family said he had lived in Houston for 35 years and was nearing legal US residency, raised the total to at least six people killed in immigration enforcement actions since President Donald Trump began his second term in January 2025 and started large-scale deportations.

That effort has picked up speed in cities nationwide, with federal agents detaining roughly 2,000 migrants daily last week, according to two sources familiar with the numbers.

In Houston, which has a large and established Mexican immigrant population, ICE arrests per week more than tripled from mid-June to late June, reaching around 100, based on early data shared with Reuters by a source.

In a Tuesday statement after the shooting, ICE said Salgado drove his van into an agency vehicle, ignored repeated verbal orders and attempted to strike an officer, who fired in self-defense.

He was involved in a targeted enforcement action when officers tried to pull over his vehicle, the agency added.

Reuters could not confirm the details of the incident.

Early statements from federal agencies on use of force have frequently been contradicted by video or other evidence. As of Wednesday afternoon, no footage of the shooting had surfaced.

'Open Season on Latinos'

At a Wednesday news conference, Salgado's son Ronaldo described his father as a peaceful man who had "dedicated his life in the United States to giving his family the American dream." Ronaldo noted his father had been pursuing legal status and was close to obtaining it.

Salgado was driving to collect his construction crew for a job in north Houston, family members said.

Joined by several members of Congress, Latino advocacy leaders and Houston officials, Ronaldo demanded a full investigation into his father's death.

He first learned of the event after viewing a social media video that showed his father on the ground beside his white van.

"I recognized him immediately, not from his appearance, but from his voice, crying for help as he lay on the street, bleeding out," he said, holding back tears.

"It is un-American to use fatal force against a human being, then lock away the evidence," said Roman Palomares, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens. "For too long, we have watched an open season declared on Latinos and communities of color, under the guise of public safety."

Dispute Over Investigation

ICE stated Tuesday that its parent agency, the Department of Homeland Security, would lead the shooting inquiry, while the FBI would handle the probe into a possible assault on a law enforcement officer.

Many in the city rejected waiting for a federal review. "I am calling for an immediate and impartial investigation, with all available video and findings released as soon as possible," Houston City Council member Alejandra Salinas wrote in a Wednesday op-ed in the Houston Chronicle.

US Representative Sylvia Garcia, a Texas Democrat representing the area, made a similar request.

"We need independent investigations, we need body cameras, clear identification, no masks, and an end to paramilitary-style immigration enforcement in our streets," Garcia said at the news conference.

Houston Mayor John Whitmire, speaking at a City Council meeting Wednesday, called for a transparent, independent investigation but ruled out a city-led probe, noting there "could not be two ongoing investigations."

The case has drawn attention across the border in Mexico.

At a Wednesday briefing, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said her government was preparing legal steps after "another unfortunate death" of a Mexican national whose "only fault was not having legal papers yet."