Houston – Ronaldo Salgado said he learned his father, 52-year-old Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, had been shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer last week through a video posted online that depicted him “screaming” for help.
“He was actively bleeding. He was screaming for someone to help him,” Ronaldo Salgado told CBS News during an interview in Houston this week. “I just felt a lot of fear at that point. And I was running around the site trying to look for answers but those answers never came.”
His younger brother, Lorenzo Salgado Jr., said he found out his father had died while on an airplane on the way to Houston to try to see him.
“Maybe an hour into the flight, I opened the same article that reported that the person had been shot,” Lorenzo Jr. recounted. Then, he added, “the article updated to read, ‘shot, killed.'”
“I was going back and forth between the bathroom to like clear my nose,” Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said. “And I really tried to stop the tears from falling because I didn’t want anyone’s attention. I really just wanted to get home and be with my family.”
Lorenzo Salgado Jr. noted he was not able to say goodbye to his father, who had lived in the U.S. for over three decades.
Ronaldo Salgado, meanwhile, said he feels deeply guilty about what unfolded last week.
“I’m always going to feel some sort of guilt that I could have been there sooner, that I could have done something,” he said, breaking down in tears. “I fear that I will always live with that guilt, because who knows what would’ve happened if I had been there or if I had arrived at the scene much sooner.”
Conflicting accounts
The Department of Homeland Security said Salgado Araujo weaponized his work van during a traffic stop on July 7 in Houston, prompting an ICE agent to shoot and kill him. That allegation has been disputed by Salgado Araujo’s family and the three men who were in the van, including his brother. They remain detained by ICE in Texas, facing deportation.
While DHS has said Salgado Araujo was in the U.S. illegally, it has also admitted he was not the target of the ICE operation that preceded his killing. Salgado Araujo’s relatives and friends have also said he lacked a criminal record, which has not been disputed by DHS.
Federal officials at DHS and the Justice Department are investigating the fatal shooting, though an FBI probe is reviewing a potential assault on a federal agent. The Harris County District Attorney and the Texas Rangers have also announced separate investigations into the killing.
Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare told CBS News he’s “more than prepared” to file charges against ICE agents if he finds criminal wrongdoing on their part. He has sharply criticized ICE’s tactics, arguing that “either these agents are completely untrained, or [they are] intentionally putting themselves in situations where they can justify firing into cars.”
Ronaldo Salgado
On Tuesday, the FBI revealed in court papers that it was investigating whether drugs were in the van. In an application for a search warrant granted by a judge, an FBI agent said he spotted several bags inside the van that contained a “white crystal-like substance” he believes is consistent with methamphetamine. At the time, the agent said that law enforcement had not yet entered the van, but had taken photos of the bags from outside the vehicle. The FBI agent wrote: “The United States is currently gathering all facts related to this incident, including what may have caused the occupants of the vehicle to flee.”
But Teare told CBS News Thursday that the allegation by federal officials that the van contained drugs is “inconsistent” with information he’s received.
“Based on what we’ve learned about the passengers, it’s inconsistent that drugs were in the van,” he said.
There is no indication that ICE’s decision to pursue the Ford Transit van ahead of the fatal shooting was related to concerns about drugs.
Less than a week after Salgado Araujo was killed, an ICE officer fatally shot another immigrant in Maine, also during a traffic stop. The killing of 25-year-old Colombian immigrant Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero escalated concerns over ICE’s tactics, prompting the agency on Tuesday to pause most vehicle stops, pending a review.
But that pause was short-lived. On Wednesday, after President Trump publicly criticized the moratorium, ICE agents were told they could continue to make vehicle stops and arrests.
“Drawn by the promise” of America
Ronaldo Salgado said his father came from “humble beginnings” in Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. to ensure his family, including his children, did not have to deal with the same challenges and backbreaking work he faced.
“He wanted people to achieve the American dream, just like he gave us the opportunity to achieve the American dream, to become college educated, to become family men, men of good character,” Ronaldo Salgado said.
Lorenzo Salgado Jr. said his father was a man who was proud of his family, loved music and valued “honest work.”
“He was drawn by the promise that in America you can, if you put in the work, you’ll get paid what you deserve, and the idea that in America, you can build yourself up from nothing to become someone, and to give your family a better future,” he added.
Both brothers are American citizens. Since their father was killed, they have been helped and represented by the American Civil Liberties Union of Texas and the League of United Latin American Citizens.
Asked what justice would look like for them as it relates to their father’s killing, Lorenzo Salgado Jr. called it a “difficult question.”
“I think we’ll have justice when my mom feels ready to go outside, without fear,” he said. “When people don’t have to live in shadows, and of course, the first step there, like my brother said, is completing an investigation completely transparent and in full.”