fatally

A 24-year-old Honduran man who was fleeing federal immigration agents in Virginia died on a highway after being struck by a vehicle.

The death of Josué Castro Rivera follows recent incidents in which three other immigrants in Chicago and California were killed during immigration enforcement operations under the Trump administration’s crackdown.

Castro Rivera was headed to a gardening job Thursday when his vehicle was pulled over by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers, brother Henry Castro said.

Agents tried to detain Castro Rivera and the three other passengers, and he fled on foot, tried to cross Interstate 264 in Norfolk and was fatally struck, according to state and federal authorities.

Castro Rivera came to the United States four years ago and was working to send money to family in Honduras, according to his brother.

“He had a very good heart,” Castro said Sunday.

The Department of Homeland Security said Castro Rivera’s vehicle was stopped by ICE as part of a “targeted, intelligence-based” operation and passengers were detained for allegedly living in the country without legal permission.

DHS said in a statement that Castro Rivera “resisted heavily and fled” and died after a passing vehicle struck him. DHS officials did not respond Sunday to requests for further comment.

Virginia State Police said officers responded to a report of a vehicle-pedestrian crash around 11 a.m. Thursday on eastbound I-264 at the Military Highway interchange. Police said Castro Rivera was hit by a 2002 Ford pickup and was pronounced dead at the scene.

The crash remains under investigation.

Federal authorities and state police gave his first name as Jose, but family members said it was Josué. DHS and state police did not explain the discrepancy.

Castro called his brother’s death an injustice and said he is raising money to transport the body back to Honduras for the funeral.

“He didn’t deserve everything that happened to him,” Castro said.

DHS blamed Castro Rivera’s death on “a direct result of every politician, activist and reporter who continue to spread propaganda and misinformation about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention.”

Similar deaths amid immigration operations elsewhere have triggered protests, lawsuits and calls for investigation amid claims that the Trump administration’s initial accounts are misleading.

Last month in suburban Chicago, federal immigration agents fatally shot a Mexican man during a traffic stop. DHS initially said a federal officer was “seriously injured,” but police body camera video showed the federal officer walking around and describing his own injuries as “ nothing major.”

In July, a farmworker who fell from a greenhouse roof during a chaotic ICE raid at a California cannabis facility died of his injuries. And in August, a man ran away from federal agents onto a freeway in the same state and was fatally struck by a vehicle.

Tareen and Walling write for the Associated Press.

Shooting took place in York County, in a rural part of the US state.

At least three police officers have been killed and two injured in the state of Pennsylvania.

Pennsylvania State Police Commissioner Christopher Paris told the media on Wednesday that five officers were shot – three fatally.

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro was rushing to the scene of the shooting in North Codorus Township, about 185km (115 miles) west of Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Attorney General Dave Sunday said he is also heading to the scene and urged on social media “all residents to follow the instructions of local law enforcement”, adding he is “praying for all involved”.

A local school district issued a shelter-in-place order, though it said schools and students were not involved in the shooting. The order was lifted later in the afternoon. The district said in a statement that authorities “advised us to hold students and staff in our buildings as a precaution while several area roads are closed”.

The medical response unfolded on a rural road in south-central Pennsylvania that winds through an agricultural area with a barn and farm fields.

Police have not provided any details about who was involved in the shooting.

Attorney General Pamela Bondi called the violence against police “a scourge on our society”. She said federal agents were on scene to support local officers.

Sept. 8 (UPI) — Police on Monday shot and killed a man they believe is a suspect who had evaded capture for more than 3 1/2 years after he disappeared into rural New Zealand with his three children.

Police have been hunting Tom Phillips since December 2021 when took his three children — Ember, Maverick and Jayda — into the New Zealand bush, with only brief sightings reported since.

Phillips faced a range of charges including aggravated robbery, aggravated wounding and unlawful possession of a firearm.

Police shot and killed Phillips early Monday following a reported burglary in Piopio, a North Island town home to around 400 people located about 280 miles north of the capital Wellington. One officer was seriously injured in the shooting, and was undergoing surgery, authorities said.

“The formal identification of this male has yet to take place but we believe him to be Tom Phillips,” acting Deputy Commissioner Jill Rogers with New Zealand Police told reporters during a press conference.

One of his three children was with him, and is receiving care, Rogers said, adding that they “hold serious concerns” for the welfare of his other two children.

“We are making urgent inquiries to locate Tom Phillips’ other children,” she said.

“Our focus is finding them.”

Ember is now 9 years old, Maverick is 10 and Jayda 12.

An early morning burglary of a rural supply store in Piopio was reported to police at around 2:30 a.m. NZST, authorities said.

The member of the public reported to authorities that the store was being burgled by a man wearing a headlamp and farm clothing and “a shorter person” also wearing a headlamp, police said.

The two suspects loaded their all-terrain vehicle with the alleged stolen wares and fled the scene at about 2:45 a.m., authorities said.

A statement from New Zealand Police states that based on the descriptions provided, officers believed that man was likely Philips, and additional resources were called in.

Police laid spikes at an intersection at about 3:20 a.m., with the suspect driving over them minutes later, and coming to a stop shortly after.

The suspect then fired multiple rounds at the responding officer, who was shot as he was exiting his police vehicle and fell to the ground, Rogers said.

A statement from New Zealand Police said the officer was struck twice, once in the head and once in the shoulder.

The suspect was then fired upon by a second police unit that arrived at the scene, “incapacitating him,” the statement said.

First aid was provided to the suspect, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

The injured officer was airlifted to the hospital in critical condition at about 4:50 a.m. and was undergoing surgery as Rogers was speaking to reporters. She said he would require multiple surgeries.

“This has been a deeply traumatic incident this morning for those involved,” she said. “It has been confronting and challenging in a small rural, isolated location.”

Rogers said multiple firearms were located on and near the all-terrain vehicle. Though she would not state the number nor specify what type of firearms were retrieved, she did say the wounded officer had been shot with a high-powered rifle.

Phillips had initially disappeared into the New Zealand bush with his children in September 2021, but then emerged two weeks later.

Then they disappeared again in December of that year. An arrest warrant was issued for Phillips after he failed to appear in court in January 2022.

Only brief sightings had been reported since.

In late August, police released CCTV footage believed to show Phillips during a Piopio business burglary.

Images released by police seemingly showed Phillips and one of his children attempting to break into the business early Aug. 27.

Rogers said dozens of officers are currently looking for the two other children.

Sept. 7 (UPI) — Police in New York City fatally shot a knife-wielding man who slashed an officer in the face after entering a police precinct early Sunday, authorities said.

The suspect, who was not identified, was shot multiple times by several officers in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn and pronounced dead at a local hospital, authorities said.

Chief of Patrol Phillip Rivera of the New York Police Department told reporters during a press conference that the suspect entered the front of the 73rd Precinct station house at about 5:24 a.m. EDT Sunday, but left shortly after attempting to enter a locked door without interacting with any police officers.

The suspect then went to the back of the building, which is restricted to NYPD personnel, and entered via an unlocked door, he said.

There, he was confronted by an officer who told the suspect that if he needed assistance, he needed to use the front door.

“Then he took out a large butcher knife and began attacking the officer,” Rivera said.

The officer sustained a slash wound to the face, Rivera said, adding that she was able to fight off her assailant, who then ran out of the precinct.

Rivera said an officer shot the suspect with a Taser, but to little effect, leading the police on a foot chase to Park Place and Saratoga Avenue, where he lunged at a pursuing officer with the 14-inch knife.

“Several officers discharged their firearms and the male was struck numerous times,” he said.

The police-involved shooting is under investigation.

The injured officer sustained superficial wounds to the face and was expected to be discharged from the hospital soon, he said.

“This incident certainly could have turned out very differently,” he said. “An individual walked into a known NYPD building with a large knife and attacked one of our officers. Every day our officers put on these uniforms they encounter dangerous situations out in the street, but it’s another kind of danger when someone comes directly into the precinct armed with a knife and attacks our officers.”