Court documents detail ICE shooting in California
By: Noe Padila
USA Today
..... The 36-year-old man who was shot by Immigration and Customs enforcement officers April 7 [2026] in Northern California was charged by U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Eric Grant tow days later with one count of assaulting a federal officer with a dangerous or deadly weapon, according to recently unsealed court documents.
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Prosecutors say Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, assaulted a federal officer during a traffic stop that escalated into an office-involved shooting, according to a statement released by the U.S. Department of Justice, eastern District of California.
..... Four federal officers pulled over Mendoza Hernandez's vehicle at about 6:30 AM. on April 7 [2026] in Patterson, California, " for questioning in connection to a murder," according to court documents.
..... Mendoza Hernandez identified himself to federal officers and was informed that he was being detained and instructed to step out of the vehicle, the document say.
..... The court documents do not reveal if federal officers explained why he was being detained or what language they sued to instruct Mendoza Hernandez to exit his vehicle.
..... Officers then threatened to "break the window of his vehicle and extract him out of the vehicle" if he didn't come out, according to court documents, After a few more commends, a federal officer broke the passenger window of Mendoza Hernandez's vehicle. At the same time, Mendoza Hernandez allegedly attempted to flee by driving his vehicle forward, nearly histing one of the officers.
..... Mendoza Hernandez then reversed his vehicle and hit an officer;s ford F-150 during his attempt to flee the scene, the documents say.
..... That's when on of the ICE officers discharged his weapon into Mendoza Hernandez's vehicle, striking him at least once, according to an FBI interview with the Customs and Border Protection agent who was at the traffic stop.
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"There was a brief pause from the shooting as Mendoza Hernandez appeared to have been shot and stopped," the CBP agent told FBI investigators.
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After the brief pause, Mendoza Hernandez then drove his car toward the intersection, attempting to flee, resulting in one of the officers needing to "jump out of the way" to avoid being hit by the vehicle, court documents say. That's when the first immigration officer and another federal officer discharged their firearms into his vehicle. Mendoza Hernandez then drove his vehicle over the center median and into oncoming traffic.
..... In a statement released shortly after the shooting, acting ICE Director Todd Lyons said, "Following their training, our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents, and the public."
..... Mendoza Hernandez was then sent to doctors Medical Center in Modesto, California, after being shot at least six times and needing to undergo several surgeries, according to his lawyer, Patrick Kolasinski.
..... He stayed at the hospital for close to a week before he was released just before 1 PM. on April 13, [2026] when he was taken into custody by FBI agents, according to Kolasinski in a call with reporters after Mendoza Hernandez was arrested.
..... Kolasinski initially told reporters that Mendoza Hernandez would be held at the Sacramento County Jail. It wasn't until about 8 PM., when Kolsinski learned that his client was being held in the Stanislaus County Jail.