A US immigration agent shot and wounded a man and a woman in Portland, Oregon, authorities said on Thursday, leading city and state officials to call for calm given public outrage over the ICE shooting death of a Minnesota woman a day earlier, Report informs via Reuters.
"We understand the heightened emotion and tension many are feeling in the wake of the shooting in Minneapolis, but I am asking the community to remain calm as we work to learn more," Portland police chief Bob Day said in a statement.
The Portland shooting unfolded Thursday afternoon as US Border Patrol agents were conducting a targeted vehicle stop, the Department of Homeland Security said in a statement.
The statement said the driver, a suspected Venezuelan gang member, attempted to "weaponize" his vehicle and run over the agents. In response, DHS said, "an agent fired a defensive shot" and the driver and a passenger drove away.
Portland and Oregon leaders said at a news conference Thursday evening that they had no details on what led to the shootings, even whether the violence was linked to immigration enforcement.
In an earlier statement, Portland police said that the shooting took place near a medical clinic in the eastern part of the city. Six minutes after arriving at the scene and determining federal agents were involved, police were informed that two people with gunshot wounds - a man and a woman - were asking for help at a location about 2 miles (3 km) to the northeast of the medical clinic.
Police said they applied tourniquets to the man and woman, who were taken to a hospital. Their condition was unknown.