ALVARADO, Texas — Several individuals are in custody after a police officer was shot outside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Johnson County, CBS News Texas reported.
The incident occurred shortly before 11 p.m. on the Fourth of July near the Prairieland Detention Facility on Sunflower Lane. Officers with the Alvarado Police Department responded to a call reporting a suspicious person near the facility.
Upon arrival, officers saw an individual appearing to carry a firearm, according to a department news release.
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When an officer attempted to engage with the person, multiple suspects opened fire, striking one officer in the neck, police said. The injured officer was airlifted to a Fort Worth hospital and later released after receiving treatment.
Alvarado police said several armed suspects were taken into custody after attempting to flee. A federal law enforcement source told CBS News that eight individuals were arrested. Some of the individuals taken into custody were wearing body armor. Authorities have not released the names of those arrested.
The source said preliminary information indicated more than a dozen masked individuals dressed in black arrived at the facility late on July 4, vandalizing vehicles and security cameras before launching fireworks, possibly to lure law enforcement.
The motive remains under investigation. The FBI declined to comment.
The U.S. Department of Justice said it is monitoring the incident, along with another reported attack at an ICE facility in Portland, Oregon.
“The Department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible,” Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche said in a statement.
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