Shots fired at Border Patrol agents on Chicago’s West Side, DHS says

A driver fired shots at Customs and Border Patrol agents in Chicago’s Little Village neighborhood on Saturday, according to the Department of Homeland Security.

DHS said the border patrol agents were “conducting immigration enforcement operations” near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue when a man driving a black Jeep fired shots. 

DHS also said people nearby threw a paint can and bricks at the agents’ vehicles. 

The Chicago Police Department was called to clear the scene. In a statement, they responded to the area for reports of shots fired, but they say there are no reports of anyone struck by gunfire.

No arrests have been made. DHS said the shooter remains at large. 

Residents in the area were out blowing whistles while protesting the federal agents, shouting at them in the street. Video from the scene showed agents pointing weapons at people before CPD officers arrived for crowd control.

Ald. Byron Sigcho-lopez (25th Ward) said multiple people were detained throughout the day, including a father near 23rd and Sawyer, where he said agents smashed windows and dragged the man out of a car while his 11-year-old son was in the vehicle.

Sigcho-Lopez said the actions of border patrol agents, led by CBP Commander Gregory Bovino, are putting the community in danger.

“Commander Bovino of the judge’s orders and when he comes to court this week, I demand that the judge hold him accountable for the level of suffering and pain and danger that he has put our community throughout this last week, but today this is just unconscionable, this has to stop, this is dangerous,” Sigcho-Lopez said.

CBS News Chicago has also obtained surveillance video from a business where Bovino was seen going through the aisles of the business, with the owner appearing to tell Bovino to leave. It’s not clear why Bovino was inside the business.

Saturday marked two months since the start of the Trump administration’s immigration enforcement effort dubbed “Operation Midway Blitz” began in the Chicago area. 

Little Village and Pilsen have been among the hardest Chicago neighborhoods hit by the immigration enforcement operation. In October, there were chaotic scenes as people in the community faced off against federal agents and, in one incident, agents fired tear gas at crowds.  

Last week, Little Village leaders called on Mayor Brandon Johnson to do more to enforce his executive order barring federal agents from using city-owned property for immigration enforcement operations, after a video surfaced allegedly showing vehicles with agents inside a parking lot of a Chicago public school. 

In response, hundreds of students from Little Village Lawndale High School staged a walkout and protest march opposing the increased immigration enforcement. 

DHS said there have been more than 3,000 arrests since the start of Operation Midway Blitz in September. Officials would not say when the operation is expected to end.