A federal law enforcement agent opened fire Wednesday morning in southern California after an illegal immigrant deliberately used his vehicle to ram law enforcement officers during an arrest attempt, according to the US Department of Homeland Security DHS

DHS said the incident occurred in the city of Compton while officers were carrying out a targeted operation to arrest a dangerous illegal immigrant from El Salvador identified as William Eduardo Moran Carballo who is allegedly involved in a human smuggling operation and has two prior arrests for inflicting corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant

According to the department during an attempt to evade arrest the suspect intentionally rammed law enforcement officers with his vehicle prompting an agent to fire defensive shots fearing for his life and safety

DHS confirmed that the suspect was not struck by gunfire and initially fled the scene on foot before being successfully apprehended by law enforcement officers later The illegal immigrant was not injured while a US Customs and Border Protection CBP officer sustained injuries during the incident

The Department of Homeland Security described the situation as evolving and revealed that an immigration judge had issued Carballo a final order of removal in 2019

DHS warned of a sharp rise in attacks against its officers stating that vehicle assaults have increased by 3200 percent The department attributed the surge to sanctuary policies that encourage illegal immigrants to evade arrest and resist law enforcement

The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it was aware of the incident which occurred on 126th Street in an unincorporated area of Los Angeles County Deputies were requested to provide perimeter traffic control and were not directly involved in the operation

Investigations into the incident are ongoing