Oscar Belgal Remains Detained With Bullet in Neck After Manhattan ICE Shooting
Cyberzenhub.com – Oscar Belgal, the 28-year-old Dominican national shot during an encounter with federal immigration officers in Manhattan, remains in custody nearly a week later with a bullet still lodged in his neck, his legal team says.
Belgal was wounded on Thursday, Oct. 8, 2026, while seated in his vehicle. His 5-year-old son was in the back seat at the time of the shooting. A habeas petition filed Wednesday by attorneys at the Legal Aid Society says Belgal has been held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn and has received ibuprofen for pain despite the unresolved gunshot injury.
“With the bullet still lodged in his neck, the entire left side of Oscar’s face remains numb. He struggles to hear anything out of his left ear, describing what he does hear as sounding as if it were far off in the distance.”
The filing says Belgal is being kept in a segregated housing unit as federal prosecutors pursue his removal from the United States. His attorneys are challenging both the circumstances of his arrest and the government’s continued detention of him.
Judge Blocks Deportation or Transfer for Now
U.S. District Judge Hector Gonzalez issued a temporary order Wednesday preventing the Trump administration from deporting Belgal or moving him outside the Southern District of New York, the Eastern District of New York, or the District of New Jersey.
The order follows a similar ruling issued last week that also stopped his deportation. Gonzalez has directed the government to explain why it considers Belgal subject to mandatory detention, particularly in light of recent decisions that restrict the government’s ability to hold a person without bond while disregarding individual circumstances. Gonzalez has previously issued a ruling addressing those limits.
Federal immigration authorities had not immediately responded to the newest filing from Belgal’s lawyers.
Dispute Over the Street Encounter
The incident unfolded after Belgal picked up his son from school and stopped at a McDonald’s for an after-school snack, the petition says. When he arrived at his home, he noticed that his SUV was positioned in front of a hydrant and began adjusting where it was parked.
His lawyers say masked agents surrounded the vehicle as he backed up and pulled forward. The petition describes a man approaching Belgal’s driver-side window with a gun and without identifying himself.
“[W]ithout identifying himself, the first man struck and shattered Oscar’s window and began firing a pistol into Oscar’s car while his son cowered in the back seat.”
Surveillance video shows Belgal in an SUV as two plainclothes officers approach with weapons drawn. The footage does not make clear what the armed men said to him. Belgal can be seen reversing and then driving out of the parking space while one man strikes the driver-side window, breaking the glass. He then drives away.
Belgal’s attorneys say ICE agents took him into custody without a warrant. The court challenge presents the encounter as an arrest operation carried out by officers who did not clearly identify themselves before violence erupted.
Government Alleges Vehicle Was Used as a Weapon
Last week, the Department of Homeland Security said Belgal “weaponized his vehicle” when immigration officers attempted to box him in with their own vehicles during the attempted arrest. The department has also alleged that he has gang associations and a criminal record.
Belgal denies involvement with the gang. His lawyers say immigration authorities have not produced evidence supporting that allegation.
The contrasting accounts have placed the shooting at the center of an ongoing legal and public dispute. The court filings focus on immediate questions surrounding Belgal’s medical condition, the legality of his detention, and whether he may be removed from the country before those questions are resolved.
Medical Care and Detention Remain Central Issues
The petition places particular emphasis on Belgal’s reported medical symptoms. Beyond the bullet remaining in his neck, his attorneys say he has numbness on the left side of his face and substantially impaired hearing in his left ear.
His case also illustrates the overlap between immigration enforcement and federal criminal custody. Although deportation proceedings may continue, the temporary court restrictions mean the government cannot currently transfer him beyond the three judicial districts identified by the judge or carry out his removal.
For Belgal and his family, the case involves more than the legal consequences of the ICE encounter. His young son was present in the vehicle during the shooting, and the petition portrays the child as having been in the rear seat as gunfire entered the car.
The shooting prompted anger among many New Yorkers and renewed scrutiny of federal immigration operations in the city. Further court proceedings are expected to address the government’s detention rationale, Belgal’s request for relief, and the claims surrounding the events that led to the gunfire.
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