Attorneys for Carlos Jimenez—the man shot by federal immigration agents in Ontario on October 30—are sharing new details about what they say occurred during and after the incident. They argue the case fits a broader pattern of escalated immigration enforcement across the Inland Empire.
Jimenez was driving to work when he encountered U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents near an elementary school bus stop on Baseline Avenue. Both sides agree he pulled over, but their accounts diverge from there.
The Department of Homeland Security says Jimenez yelled at officers and attempted to run them over, prompting gunfire. Jimenez, through his attorneys, disputes that.
Attorney Greg Jackson says Jimenez stopped only to warn agents that children would soon arrive.
“He spoke to them through his passenger side window… after he let them know that the kids are going to be there, the male officer immediately had his gun drawn and pointed at Mr. Jimenez’s head and told him to get the f' out of here."
Jackson says Jimenez began backing up to leave as instructed.
“After he’s pulling forward is when he hears and then feels that he had been shot.”
Jackson said Jimenez’s family drove him to Riverside Community Hospital, where the FBI located him.
“The FBI took him from Riverside Community Hospital in an FBI van while he was handcuffed and shackled," said Jackson, "and interrogated him back at the scene while he was bleeding and before he had received substantive medical treatment.”
Jackson says Jimenez still has bullet fragments in his shoulder and torso and remains in pain. He also says his client has not returned to work at a community food pantry.
Attorney Cynthia Santiago said the incident is part of what she describes as a pattern.
“This isn’t an isolated incident. We’re seeing a growing pattern of this kind of reaction from ICE officers," she said. "We’re seeing an ongoing pattern of their reaction being so aggressive from the onset.”
Santiago referenced her other client, Francisco Longoria, a San Bernardino resident shot at by federal agents in August. Criminal charges against Longoria were dismissed in mid-September, but he was immediately transferred into ICE custody.
“There was a criminal case that had no substance, no basis, and it turned into the detainer… putting a family through such separation for unfounded charges,” said Santiago.
The Department of Homeland Security declined to comment about the new details. Jimenez is scheduled to return to federal court later this month.
