ICE agent struck and opens fire on fleeing suspect in Ocean County as FBI takes over case
A spokesperson from ICE tells News 12 the suspect's name is Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno, here illegally from Peru, and that an immigration judge ordered him to leave the country back in January. ICE did not mention why the suspect was ordered to leave.
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An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer opened fire on a suspect after being hit by a vehicle Monday morning on busy Route 72 in Stafford Township.
“I saw the officer pretty much do a pirouette. He was hit and he fell to the ground. The van took off east on 72,” said Leann, who watched the events unfold at the traffic light.
Leann just got her morning coffee at Wawa and was at the intersection waiting to make a turn onto Route 72 from Mermaid Drive when she recorded several images showing an ICE agent on the ground after being hit by a fleeing suspect seconds earlier.
“It was him taking off, officer hit, boom, boom, boom. It was very quick. Within a second, absolutely,” she said.
A spokesperson from ICE tells News 12 the suspect's name is Friedrich Castillo-Ormeno, here illegally from Peru, and that an immigration judge ordered him to leave the country back in January. ICE did not mention why the suspect was ordered to leave.
ICE says Castillo-Ormeno used the van as a weapon, hitting the officer. That officer fired at the van, and witnesses say the rear window was shattered. The suspect got away.
“It was a white van. It had some sort of business emblem animal. I remember gray, feeling like it was a bulldog face, but it was some sort of cartoon animal,” said Leann.
“There’s a lot of police officers. There’s federal officers. What's going on?” asked Lisa Bradley, moments after the commotion began outside.
Bradley manages the Stafford Diner, run by her family since 1998. She didn’t hear the shots but praised the response of the police for keeping the area calm during the tense situation.
“We’re a family business. We know them, their families. It’s great they came in and everything was OK with them and our staff is doing OK,” said Bradley.
Leann says she saw the ICE officer stand briefly on his feet, before sitting back on the pavement.
“[The driver] accelerated. He went from zero to whatever a van can go to and hit that man,” said Leann.
Stafford Township police say they were not involved in the initial ICE operation. Officers responded after reports of shots fired, provided aid to the injured agent, searched for the suspect and secured the scene before the FBI took over the investigation.
Route 72 reopened just before 2 p.m.
News 12 has reached out to ICE for more information on why the suspect was ordered to leave and the status of the injured officer.
