By Asiye Latife Yilmaz
ISTANBUL (AA) — Federal agents in Chicago opened fire on a woman after she and several other drivers rammed and trapped law enforcement vehicles, the US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said Saturday.
US Customs and Border Protection officers fired “defensive shots” at the woman, identified as Marimar Martinez, after she allegedly joined at least 10 vehicles in boxing in law enforcement cars, DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said on US social media company X.
“Agents were unable to move their vehicles and exited the car. One of the drivers who rammed the law enforcement vehicle was armed with a semi-automatic weapon,” McLaughlin wrote.
“Law enforcement was forced to deploy their weapons and fire defensive shots at an armed US citizen who drove herself to the hospital to get care for wounds,” she added.
Martinez, who McLaughlin said had been named in an intelligence bulletin for “doxing agents and posting online,” was treated at Chicago’s Mount Sinai Hospital and taken into FBI custody after being discharged.
DHS also identified another individual, Anthony Ian Santos Ruiz, as “involved in the ramming.” He is in law enforcement custody, though it remains unclear whether either Martinez or Ruiz has been charged or has legal representation.
A Mount Sinai Hospital spokesperson confirmed to CNN that the woman treated after the encounter with federal agents was released.