Todd Lyons says agents fired defensively after Mendoza Hernández weaponized his vehicle
Todd LyonsActing director of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement
Lyons said Mendoza Hernández tried to run over an officer and that agents fired defensive shots consistent with their training.
“As officers approached the car, the wanted gang member weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run an officer over. Following their training, our officers fired defensive shots to protect themselves, their fellow agents and the public.”
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Were federal immigration officers justified in shooting Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández?
On April 7, 2026, federal immigration officers shot Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández several times during a vehicle stop near Interstate 5 in Patterson, California. An FBI affidavit says the four-person team included three ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers and one Customs and Border Protection officer. It alleges Mendoza Hernández moved forward and struck an agent, reversed into a government truck, and then accelerated toward two agents, causing them to fire in response to an immediate threat. His attorney said agents fired while the car was stopped and that Mendoza Hernández fled the gunfire in panic. Public dashcam footage shows parts of the vehicle's movement but has no audio and does not establish when the shots were fired. Mendoza Hernández was later indicted on assault and property-damage charges, which remained unresolved as of September 22, 2026. The dispute is whether the vehicle posed an imminent threat when officers fired.
Source and context
Reporting
About this source
The report presents the government’s justification, Kolasinski’s response and the available dashcam footage after the Patterson shooting.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
ICE officers had stopped Mendoza Hernández during a targeted immigration-enforcement operation near Patterson, California.
After the quotation
DHS referred reporters to Lyons’s statement while the FBI investigated the shooting.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
Relative to the officers’ decision to fire, Lyons argues that the shooting was a justified defensive response to an attempted vehicular assault.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- Carlos Iván Mendoza Hernández
More from this case
Read the full caseDare to Struggle Bay Area calls the Mendoza shooting attempted murder
Dare to Struggle Bay Area
“ICE agents tried to murder Carlos Mendoza on April 7th by shooting him seven times. He has been unjustly charged with assault, put in detention, and moved from place to place without proper medical care.”Read statement
Carlos Mendoza Hernández denies intending to hurt the officers
“My intention was never to hurt them. (Translated from Spanish. Original: Mi intención nunca fue lastimarlos.)”Read statement
Bill Durston says the evidence does not support Lyons’s defense of the shooting
“I believe that the evidence that is publicly available at the time of this writing does not support Lyons’ claims. Instead, as has been the case in multiple other statements issued by Trump administration officials following shootings committed by ICE and Border Patrol officers, I believe that the available evidence strongly suggests that Todd Lyons is lying.”Read statement
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Todd Lyons says agents fired defensively after Mendoza Hernández weaponized his vehicle
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/1468-lyons-said-mendoza-hern%C3%A1ndez-tried-to-run-over
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Todd Lyons says agents fired defensively after Mendoza Hernández weaponized his vehicle". First published: 2026-09-22. Last updated: 2026-09-22. https://disputeindex.com/events/1468-lyons-said-mendoza-hern%C3%A1ndez-tried-to-run-over