Second Detainee Killed in Dallas ICE Facility Shooting
Last week, a second detainee was killed when a shooter opened fire at a Dallas Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility, as confirmed by the Department of Homeland Security.
The victim has been identified as 32-year-old Miguel Garcia Hernández by the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC). García-Hernández leaves behind four young children and is survived by his wife, who is expecting their fifth child.
His wife, Stephanie Gofeny, expressed her heartbreak in a statement, saying Miguel was a devoted father and dedicated provider. “We just bought our first house together, and he worked hard every day to ensure our kids had everything they needed,” she shared. The tragedy of his death felt, to her, like a shoe dropped on their family without warning. “It’s hard to explain to my children that their father is gone,” she added.
Originally from Mexico, García-Hernández was undocumented in the U.S. He had been arrested on August 8th for driving under the influence and later faced additional charges for fleeing police. On the same day, ICE had initiated immigrant detention proceedings against him.
In previous encounters with law enforcement, records show that García-Hernández had issues identifying himself during arrests in 2011 and 2017. Although he had faced detention by ICE in the past, he was released before immigration authorities took custody.
The shooting incident also involved another detainee, Nolan Guzman Faentes, 37, who was killed, while another individual, Jose Andres Baudon Molina from Venezuela, was injured.
In the aftermath, details emerged about the shooter, 29-year-old Joshua Yarn. He reportedly aimed to cause fear and chaos by targeting federal agents. During the attack, ICE officials were transporting detainees in vans when the shooting erupted, and it is stated that an anti-ICE message was inscribed on the bullets found near Yarn’s body.
FBI Director Kash Patel revealed that Yarn had downloaded documents prior to the attack that detailed DHS facilities. Furthermore, he had searched for applications designed to track the locations of ICE agents in the days leading up to the incident. Hours before the shooting, he looked up ballistic information, adding to the chilling premeditation of his actions.
Investigators also recovered a handwritten note from Yarn that expressed his intentions to instill fear in ICE agents. He appeared to fantasize about creating a tense atmosphere, indicating manipulative thoughts like, “Hopefully this will lead ICE agents thinking, ‘There’s a sniper with an AP round on that roof.'”
