Live updates: Family of man shot by ICE denies criminal ties. ‘He is not a gang member’
A man identified as Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez has been hospitalized after a shooting that involved U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, acting ICE director Todd Lyons said in a statement Tuesday. Mendoza Hernandez’s condition has not been revealed. Our live coverage for the day has concluded. Click here for the latest on this developing story.
7 p.m. Family of man who was shot responds
Patrick Kolasinski, a Modesto-based immigration attorney representing Mendoza Hernandez’s family, said that the man is in stable condition at Doctors Medical Center and that the family denies all allegations that Mendoza Hernandez was affiliated with gangs, as ICE asserted. “The biggest thing the family wants to get out right now is that he is not a gang member,” the attorney told The Modesto Bee. “He is a family man engaged to a U.S. citizen with a 2-year-old U.S. citizen daughter who was on his way to work in the Bay Area.”
3:30 p.m. Stanislaus County Sheriff: FBI primarily responsible for investigation
Stanislaus County Sheriff Jeff Dirkse said during a press conference that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was primarily responsible for investigating the ICE-involved shooting Tuesday of Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez.
Dirkse then introduced Eugene Wu, a special agent for the FBI’s Sacramento office.
“This will take time as our agents conduct their investigation,” Wu said.
2 p.m. Valley Watch Network urges skepticism of ICE statement
Nora Zaragoza-Yáñez, a program manager for Valley Watch Network, which monitors ICE, said any statements from ICE should be viewed with skepticism given the agency’s history of issuing statements after shootings that are later found false. “We must question the accuracy of their statements,” Zaragoza-Yáñez told The Sacramento Bee. “We need an independent investigation and we need ICE out of our community.”
Zaragoza-Yáñez also said that shooting was “another example that ICE puts our community in danger.”
1:45 p.m. Assemblymember touts bill that would require AG to investigate ICE-involved shootings
California Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-LA) is one of six sponsors of AB 1806, which would require the state attorney general’s office to conduct an investigation into “any incident where a federal immigration enforcement officer shoots a civilian.”
“While we wait for additional details, incidents like these underscore the need for a thorough, transparent, and independent investigation of any shooting involving federal agents,” Gabriel said in a statement Tuesday. “Assembly Bill 1806 will ensure transparency and accountability.”
Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty, who authored similar legislation while serving in the state legislature, said in a Jan. 26 statement that he looked forward to working with Gabriel.
“We must ensure that our laws give the Attorney General clear authority to pursue independent investigations even when federal officers are involved,” said McCarty, who didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Tuesday afternoon. “Strengthening these powers would help guarantee transparency, build public trust, and ensure that all uses of force are thoroughly reviewed, no matter the agency involved.”
1 p.m. 36 ICE arrests in Stanislaus County since beginning of Trump’s second term
Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez’s encounter with ICE on Tuesday morning was far from the first time the agency’s officers have crossed paths with people in Stanislaus County.
Data provided to The Modesto Bee by UC Berkeley Law School’s Data Deportation Project shows that ICE has arrested 36 people in Stanislaus County since the beginning of Donald Trump’s second presidential administration in January 2025. This includes 18 arrests in the past six months.
Fernanda Pereira, an attorney, told The Modesto Bee that ICE officers formerly could release individuals who were undocumented and weren’t perceived as public safety threats.
“At this point, we are not seeing an exercise of that discretion,” Pereira said.
12:45 p.m. Shooting is at least seventh of 2026 involving ICE or CBP officers
Tuesday’s shooting in Patterson was at least the seventh of the year involving officers of ICE or U.S. Customs and Border Protection Agency, which are both part of the Department of Homeland Security.
Of the other six shootings, the two most prominent have been in Minneapolis. Renee Good was fatally shot by ICE on Jan. 14, while a CBP officer fatally shot Alex Pretti 10 days later. Both shootings prompted mass protests.
12:30 p.m. Dashcam video shared on social media appears to show shooting
Dramatic dashcam footage posted on social media early Tuesday afternoon appeared to detail the traffic stop in Patterson that led to a shooting involving ICE.
The video, which is 23 seconds long, appears to show Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez’s car by the side of the road, with what appears to be three agents near it. The car backs up and then quickly accelerates in the direction of an agent. An agent fires toward the vehicle as the car drives over a center embankment.
Multiple hubcaps come off from the car as it appears to veer slowly into opposing traffic. Mendoza Hernandez was hospitalized following the shooting. The Washington Post reported that Mendoza Hernandez was in critical condition, citing a spokesperson for the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, which Patterson contracts with for police services. Authorities would not confirm that report.
It is not clear where the dashcam footage originated from.
12:15 p.m. Newsom briefed on incident
The press office for Gov. Gavin Newsom said in an X post that officials had briefed the governor on Tuesday’s shooting involving ICE.
“As is established practice, we expect our federal law enforcement partners to appropriately collaborate with state and local law enforcement as this matter is investigated,” the post read, from the account @GovPressOffice.
Newsom retweeted the post through his gubernatorial account but didn’t otherwise post about the incident from that account on X or his individual one.
12 p.m. ICE issues statement
Lyons said in a written statement that officers conducted a traffic stop Tuesday in Patterson, which is about 80 miles south of Sacramento, “to arrest Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez, an 18th Street Gang member wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder.”
Lyons stated that when officers approached his car, Mendoza Hernandez “weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over.” Officers then fired what Lyons described as defensive shots.
Mendoza Hernandez was subsequently hospitalized. It is unclear how many times he was shot or what his condition is currently. ICE declined to provide further information on Mendoza Hernandez, in response to a question by a reporter for The Sacramento Bee.
ICE agents have been involved in at least six other shootings this year.
12 p.m. FBI Sacramento on-scene
At about noon, an account for the Sacramento office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation posted on X that it was “responding to the scene of an ICE and CBP involved shooting in Patterson.”
“We are conducting a thorough investigation in partnership with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office and are grateful for the Patterson community’s continued patience and support,” FBI Sacramento’s post noted. “As the investigation is in its early stages, we are unable to release additional information at this time.”
Where the incident took place
The shooting took place near Interstate 5 and Sperry Avenue in Patterson, an incorporated city of about 27,000 people. It is south of Tracy along I-5 and near Modesto. Patterson is around 70% Latino.
Patterson is part of Stanislaus County and contracts for police service with the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office. That office was assisting after the shooting on Tuesday but had no involvement with the incident, according to a Facebook post just before 10 a.m. Tuesday by the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office.
“The on and off ramps on I-5 and Sperry Ave are closed and they are expected to be closed for the remainder of the day,” the post noted. “Motorists should expect significant delays and avoid the area.”
This story was originally published April 7, 2026 at 12:18 PM with the headline "Live updates: Family of man shot by ICE denies criminal ties. ‘He is not a gang member’."
