Man Injured in Dallas ICE Shooting Being Kept Alive by Machines, Family Says

While authorities have resisted sharing any information about the individuals injured in Wednesday’s shooting attack on a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility, a family member of one of the wounded men has come forward and stated that for his loved one, the outlook is not a positive one. 

In an interview with KUVN, Univision 23, family members identified Mexican national Miguel Ángel Garcia Medina, 32, as one of the shooting’s victims. Garcia Medina’s brother shared that the man suffered gunshot wounds to the flank, back, stomach and neck, with the neck injury being the most damaging. 

“They want to disconnect him, because he is only living on machines. The machines are what is keeping him alive,” Fernando Gutiérrez, Garcia Medina’s brother, said. 

Gutiérrez said Garcia Medina has undergone two surgeries since the shooting, which critically injured one other individual in ICE custody and killed another. The identities of those individuals are still unknown. Suspected shooter Joshua Jahn died at the scene of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

According to Gutiérrez, Garcia Medina has lived in North Texas for two decades and worked as a house painter. Gutiérrez said he believes Garcia Medina was being taken to the ICE facility on North Stemmons Freeway on Wednesday morning to be processed for deportation. Two months ago, their mother was deported from the U.S. to Mexico, and Gutiérrez said she is now working with attorneys to try to return to the U.S. to see her critically injured son. 

“It’s very serious in the hospital. It’s very bad,” Gutiérrez said. 

The Mexican Ministry of Foreign Affairs confirmed earlier this week that one of the people injured in Wednesday’s attack was from Mexico. However, the nationalities, ages, gender and names of the remaining injured and deceased victims are still unknown. In a press briefing on Thursday, investigators said that before a victim is identified by authorities, the victim’s home countries and families must be notified, which can be a “complicated” process. 

Investigators said they do not believe Jahn was targeting detainees at the time of the shooting, and that it was law enforcement officials whom the North Texas man had intended to harm. According to authorities, a series of handwritten notes found in Jahn’s home revealed that he believed ICE agents are “people showing up to collect a dirty paycheck.”