New Details Emerge Weeks After ICE Shooting In MD

GLEN BURNIE, MD — One of two people who were injured last month when federal immigration officers opened fire on a vehicle in Glen Burnie was already in ICE custody, according to new information released by Anne Arundel County police.

The information released on Thursday disputes the version of events provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security in the wake of the Dec. 24 shooting in Maryland. It also came just days after an ICE officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman during a similar incident in Minneapolis.

Initial reports said Anne Arundel County police responded to a shooting shortly before 11 a.m. in the 500 block of West Court. Authorities also noted that local law enforcement was not involved in the shooting.

• RELATED: ICE Officers Shoot Van Driver, Passenger Who Tried To Hit Them: DHS

According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were conducting a targeted operation in Glen Burnie when they approached a van driven by Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins. According to the agency, Sousa-Martins is an immigrant from Portugal whose U.S. visa expired in 2009.

The agency said a second man, identified as Salomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel of El Salvador, was seated in the passenger seat of the van.

Federal officials claimed Sousa-Martins was told to turn off the engine; however, officials said he refused and tried to flee, ramming his van into several federal vehicles and attempting to run officers over.

The officers fired their weapons and hit Sousa-Martins, who crashed the van, according to the Department of Homeland Security's statement. Serrano-Esquivel was also injured in the crash, the agency claimed.

Both men were taken to a hospital and were expected to recover.

On Thursday, Anne Arundel County police said one of the injured men was not in the van during the incident. According to police, he was already in custody in an ICE vehicle.

"We continue to investigate this incident. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the Anne Arundel County Police Department at 410-222-4731," police said. "Anyone wishing to remain anonymous is encouraged to contact the Tip Line at 410-222-4700."

The new information released by police echoes an account given to The Baltimore Banner shortly after the shooting by an attorney who visited Serrano-Esquivel at the hospital.

Alex Major told the Banner that Serrano-Esquivel, a landscape worker, was pulled over by federal agents along with a family member in Southern Maryland and taken into custody Wednesday morning, hours before he was accused of riding in the van that rammed ICE officers.

A bystander’s video reviewed by The Banner also showed a white van following a crash. Agents removed one man from the vehicle and took him away on a stretcher. In the video, there was no sign of a second man inside the van.

The shooting in Glen Burnie, followed by Wednesday's fatal incident in Minneapolis, is leaving some Anne Arundel County residents feeling anxious and scared.

The shooting of the woman, identified by family members as Renee Nicole Good, 37, occurred as Homeland Security escalated immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota by deploying 2,000 agents and officers. The incident is one of the latest in a growing number of violent encounters between ICE agents and community members, and at least the fifth fatality.

• RELATED: JD Vance Claims ICE Agent Has 'Absolute Immunity' In Minneapolis Shooting, Legal Experts Disagree

"(Minneapolis) reminded me a lot of here," Andrew McCormack, who lives in the Glen Burnie neighborhood where the Christmas Eve shooting took place, told WBAL. "It is kind of terrifying when they are opening fire right by my house, and I don't think they should really be doing that in the first place."

Francis Tindoga of Glen Burnie called it "the same story."

"They say they tried to run over the officer and that's why they fired a shot," they said.