The man and woman shot by federal agents in Portland, Ore., this week are connected to the Venezuelan gang Tren de Aragua, federal and local officials said on Friday. But the Portland police chief said that did not necessarily justify the use of potentially deadly force by the agents.
The shooting on Thursday by U.S. Border Patrol officers prompted angry denunciations from local officials, who called for an end to the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown, which they said was making the city less safe. The officials also demanded accountability for federal agents who they say have repeatedly used excessive force.
Earlier on Friday, Department of Homeland Security officials said in a statement that the man and the woman, identified as Luis David Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras, had both entered the United States illegally from Venezuela and that they were associated with Tren de Aragua, a gang with roots in a Venezuelan prison that has been a frequent target of President Trump. They said Mr. Nino-Moncada had been arrested for driving violations in the United States since entering the country in 2022 and had an order for removal. Ms. Zambrano-Contreras, they said, was tied to a prostitution ring run by the gang.
In an emotional news conference Friday afternoon, Chief Bob Day of the Portland Police confirmed the connection and shared the criminal histories of the victims.
“I hesitated to even share this information initially because I am very aware of the historic injustice of victim shaming,” Chief Day said, at one point choking up and appearing to wipe away tears as he told Latino Oregonians that he understood their fear amid the federal immigration crackdown.
“This information in no way is meant to disparage or condone or agree with any of the actions that occurred yesterday,” he said. “But it is important that we stay committed to the rule of law, that we stay committed to the facts.”
The two shooting victims are both in stable condition at local hospitals, Chief Day said, and in federal custody.
The investigation into the shooting by U.S. Border Patrol agents is being led by federal authorities.
The state’s attorney general, Dan Rayfield, said the Oregon Department of Justice, which he leads, will be conducting its own investigation of the shooting and the behavior of federal officers. His office fought federal attempts to use National Guard troops to quell demonstrations at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement building in Portland last year, and in that case contended that the federal response to demonstrators was often disproportionate to the level of danger.
“Over the last two days, we’ve had two shootings in two different states,” he said. “We’ve also had allegations in court of excessive force in Oregon. There’s a heightened sense of concern within this state. Our plan is to go in, look at the facts in an objective matter to see what transpired and if there is an applicable state law violation.”
Mr. Rayfield said the F.B.I. was cooperating with what he termed a “concurrent” investigation. “It’s early, but I’m optimistic that cooperation will continue,” he said. “Working together is how we can rebuild trust.”
The police were alerted to the shooting on Thursday afternoon when the injured man called 911. The immigration agents involved in the shooting were no longer on the scene when local officers arrived.
Chief Day suggested that cooperation between federal and local officials was limited, which echoes the situation in Minneapolis, where an ICE agent killed a woman in her vehicle on Wednesday. Minnesota’s top law enforcement agency said on Thursday that it had withdrawn from an investigation because it was being denied access to evidence by federal agencies.
That shooting prompted angry demonstrations and tearful vigils in remembrance of the woman who was killed, Renee Nicole Good, 37. As in Portland on Thursday, it exacerbated long-running tensions between Minneapolis officials and the Trump administration over a surge in federal immigration enforcement, with city officials demanding an end to the crackdown.
In the case of the shooting in Portland, homeland security officials said that Border Patrol agents had been conducting a “targeted vehicle stop” when they pulled over a truck driven by Mr. Nino-Moncada amid a collection of health clinics and offices and that an agent had fired after the driver tried to run them over. A spokesman with Adventist Health, which operates the medical facilities near the shooting site, said that the F.B.I. had requested security camera footage from the area.
Residents at the apartment complex where the victims were found said they were both conscious and talking to police officers and emergency responders while being loaded into ambulances.
Emergency medical technicians described both victims as Spanish speakers in conversations captured by emergency radio broadcasts. The woman had a gunshot wound to the chest, an E.M.T. told a dispatcher, and the man was described as having two gunshot wounds.
Demonstrations after the episode lasted late into the night on Thursday, and the Portland police arrested at least six people. More demonstrations were planned for Friday night and the weekend.
The parking lot of the hospital complex in southeast Portland where the shooting occurred was quiet and cordoned off with yellow caution tape on Friday afternoon, and a security guard said no one was working in the building. A black sedan that was hit when the shooting victims drove away was towed away Thursday night.
Hamed Aleaziz contributed reporting from Washington and Aaron West from Portland, Ore.
Anna Griffin the Pacific Northwest bureau chief for The Times, leading coverage of Washington, Idaho, Alaska, Montana and Oregon.
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