Family of Mexican father shot dead by ICE in Chicago files claim over
'unlawful' shooting
[October 09, 2026]
By CYBELE MAYES-OSTERMAN
CHICAGO (AP) — The family of a man shot dead by an immigration
enforcement agent in the Chicago area last year moved to sue the
government on Thursday for a shooting they allege was unlawful and could
have been prevented, according to attorneys for the family.
Silverio Villegas Gonzalez, a 38-year-old Mexican national who had lived
in the U.S. for 18 years, was fatally shot last fall by an Immigration
and Customs Enforcement agent who stopped his car during “Operation
Midway Blitz,” the Trump administration's immigration crackdown in
Chicago.
The Department of Homeland Security initially said the agent was dragged
by Villegas Gonzalez' vehicle and then shot Villegas Gonzalez in
self-defense. A coroner’s report determined Villegas Gonzalez was shot
from behind, at close range.
“This horrific shooting was unlawful and wholly preventable,” attorneys
wrote in the claim.
The claim seeks compensation and gives the federal government six months
to respond before a lawsuit can be filed. It comes days after lawyers
filed a lawsuit against DHS on behalf of Marimar Martinez, who survived
being shot five times in her car by an immigration agent in Chicago,
less than a month after Villegas Gonzalez' death. An independent
analysis of the shooting found the agent fired at her from behind,
contradicting his statements to the FBI that he feared Martinez would
drive into him, according to her lawyers.
Federal law does not allow for lawsuits against individual agents.
Jonathan Manes, an attorney for Villegas Gonzalez’ family, declined to
share the amount of compensation they are seeking, but told The
Associated Press they plan to ask the judge for a “very large amount of
damages at trial.”
“The way that the administration has reflexively sought to smear
Silverio and call it justified doesn’t suggest to us that they’ll be
willing to settle,” Manes said. “We expect that, in six months' time,
we’ll be in federal court where the government has to answer for this,
where the truth can come out.”
Illinois State Police announced an investigation into the shooting in
May.
Villegas Gonzalez, a line cook at a local diner, had just dropped off
his two young sons at school and daycare on the morning of Sept. 12,
2025, in the Chicago suburb of Franklin Park, when ICE agents pulled
their Jeep in front of his car, according to the claim.
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A Chicago Police Department car is reflected in the window of Luna y
Cielo Play Cafe, where a framed picture is displayed of Silverio
Villegas Gonzalez who was killed in an interaction with federal
immigration enforcement (ICE) agents, as part of a Mexican Day of
the Dead altar in Chicago's Logan Square neighborhood, Wednesday,
Oct. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell, File)
As the two agents stood on either side of his car, leaning on the
window frames, Villegas Gonzalez reversed about 50 feet (15.24
meters) and started to drive away into the open traffic lane.
Surveillance video captured the sound of gunshots as one agent
chased the car, which crashed into a parked delivery truck. The
truck driver called 911, and Villegas Gonzalez was pronounced dead
at a hospital about an hour later.
A medical examiner found that Villegas Gonzalez was shot downward,
through the back of his neck. “The ICE officer was therefore
standing alongside the driver’s side of Silverio’s vehicle when he
fired the fatal shot, effectively executing Silverio at close
range,” attorneys wrote in the complaint.
Immediately after the shooting, DHS said in a news release that
Villegas Gonzalez was in the U.S. illegally and had dragged the
agent with his car as he tried to flee. The release said the agent
was seriously injured and “fearing for his life."
The agent told police who responded to the shooting that his
injuries were “nothing major,” according to police body-worn camera
footage previously obtained by the AP.
Attorneys wrote in the claim that the agent was not in the path of
the vehicle, and chose to hold onto the windows.
Villegas Gonzalez had “no criminal record and only a few minor
traffic violations,” it added.
DHS has not identified the agent. Neither of the ICE agents were
wearing body-worn cameras when Villegas Gonzalez was shot. The
Department did not respond to a request for comment. It was not
immediately clear if DHS had received the claim.
Martinez and Villegas Gonzalez are among a growing number of people
shot in their cars by federal agents across the country amid the
Trump administration’s immigration enforcement sweeps. DHS has
characterized the shootings as self-defense against people using
their vehicles as weapons.
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