Shell casings recovered, arrests made after shots fired at feds during chaotic scene in Little Village

Several people were arrested after shots were fired, bricks were hurled and at least one car crashed into a cop Saturday during a standoff between residents and federal agents conducting immigration enforcement operations Saturday in Little Village.

Chicago police took at least five people into custody after the chaotic situation, which began about 9:30 a.m. in the 2500 block of South Kedzie Avenue and ended hours later in the early afternoon.

As police began responding to the shots fired call, "several requests for assistance" came in, according to a police report. "Upon arrival, responding officers observed a large hostile crowd engaging and interfering with multiple US Custom and Border Patrol agents," the report said.

The situation continued to "escalate," according to the report, which said some in the crowd began throwing bricks.

Around 9:45 a.m., there was also a report of a Chicago police officer down after being hit by a car at 26th Street and Kedzie. After the crash, federal agents warned Chicago police they planned to release tear gas, but they never released it.

After agents retreated, detectives said two spent shell casings were found at 2513 S. Kedzie Ave., the police report said.

It was not clear yet who fired the gun.

Of the five people charged in Cook County Criminal Court in connection with the incident Saturday, the most serious charge was leveled against Hector Gomez, 45, who remains in custody accused of unlawful possession of a weapon by a felon, police said.

Court records show Gomez allegedly pointed a nine-millimeter gun at a woman who was a protester. He faces no charges alleging he fired a gun, according to court records.

The woman told Chicago police officers that Gomez "had been walking toward her with [the] firearm in his right hand while laughing profusely and then pointing the firearm in her direction placing her in immediate fear that she would receive a battery," according to court records.

Police officers approached the black Jeep Gomez was inside, "opened the doors and observed [Gomez] sitting in the driver's seat with a 9mm semiautomatic handgun in his lap," court records showed.

Gomez, who was ordered to remain detained at his court hearing Sunday, is due back in court Friday.

No charges have been filed in federal court in connection with any of the incidents Saturday.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement that a man in a black Jeep fired shots at them and fled the scene as they conducted operations near 26th Street and Kedzie Avenue.

Tricia McLaughlin, a spokesperson for the Department of Homeland Security, said that an arrest has been made but did not identify the suspect.

“A criminal illegal alien from Mexico has been arrested in relation to Saturday’s shooting targeting Border Patrol agents in Chicago," McLaughlin said in a statement released Monday. "The suspect has previously been convicted for aggravated unlawful use of a weapon/vehicle, felony possession of a weapon, and illegal entry."

The statement claimed the man arrested “is currently marked as a violator of the Laken Riley Act, pending charges related to assaulting officers."

After federal agents had left the area Saturday afternoon, four arrests were made by Chicago police near 23rd Street and Sawyer Avenue as the situation remained tense between onlookers, protesters and officers.

Kai Movagh, 31, has been charged by Cook County prosecutors with felony aggravated battery to a peace officer, while Demarco Urbina, 20, Eduardo Lopez, 43, and Julian Sosa, 18, were all charged with misdemeanor reckless conduct.

One person allegedly used a shoe to repeatedly strike an unmarked car and broke a taillight of a marked CPD squad car. The windshield of the same squad car was also cracked by what appeared to be a paintball.

Mayor Brandon Johnson: Chaos Saturday provoked by feds

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, at an unrelated event Monday, argued that “chaos” that unfolded in Little Village over the weekend was “provoked” by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents under the direction U.S. Border Patrol Commander Greg Bovino and “will continue until we get Bovino out of our city.”

Johnson said protesters expressed “valid anger and frustration at the reckless actions of ICE" and vented that anger by being “aggressive toward” Chicago Police officers. One of those CPD officers was injured by a vehicle “accidentally hitting them as they were trying to leave," he said.

Other officers sustained minor injuries.

“These raids are meant to be provocative. They are trying to incite chaos. And they are putting our police officers right in the middle of it to clean up the mess that they are creating,” the mayor said.

Johnson implored Chicagoans not to let “reckless Border Patrol agents” destroy the “hard and steady work” that has been done to “rebuild trust” between citizens and police so critical to solving violent crime.

Contributing: Tom Schuba, Fran Spielman