GLEN BURNIE, MD — Recent updates from Anne Arundel County police reveal that one of the two individuals injured last month during a shooting involving federal immigration officers was already in ICE custody.
This new information, disclosed on Thursday, challenges the narrative provided by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security following the shooting incident on December 24 in Maryland. This announcement comes shortly after a separate incident in Minneapolis, where an ICE officer fatally shot a 37-year-old woman.
Initial reports indicated that Anne Arundel County police responded to a shooting around 11 a.m. in the 500 block of West Court, clarifying that local law enforcement was not involved in the shooting.
According to a statement from the Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers were conducting a targeted operation in Glen Burnie when they approached a van driven by Tiago Alexandre Sousa-Martins. The agency identified Sousa-Martins as an immigrant from Portugal whose U.S. visa expired in 2009.
In the van’s passenger seat was Salomon Antonio Serrano-Esquivel from El Salvador.
Federal officials asserted that Sousa-Martins was instructed to turn off the engine but refused, attempting to flee by ramming his van into several federal vehicles and allegedly trying to run over the officers.
The officers then discharged their firearms, hitting Sousa-Martins, who subsequently crashed the van. The Department of Homeland Security also stated that Serrano-Esquivel was injured in the crash.
Both individuals were transported to a hospital and are expected to recover.
On Thursday, Anne Arundel County police clarified that one of the injured men was not in the van during the incident; he was already in custody in an ICE vehicle.
“We are actively investigating this incident. Anyone with information is encouraged to reach out to the Anne Arundel County Police Department at 410-222-4731,” police stated. “Those wishing to remain anonymous can contact the Tip Line at 410-222-4700.”
The newly released information aligns with an account shared with The Baltimore Banner shortly after the shooting by an attorney who visited Serrano-Esquivel in the hospital.
Attorney Alex Major informed the Banner that Serrano-Esquivel, a landscape worker, had been stopped by federal agents along with a family member in Southern Maryland and taken into custody on Wednesday morning, just hours before he was alleged to be in the van that collided with ICE officers.
A bystander’s video reviewed by The Banner captured a white van following the crash, showing agents removing one man from the vehicle and taking him away on a stretcher, with no indication of a second man inside the van.
The Glen Burnie shooting, along with the recent fatal incident in Minneapolis, has left many residents in Anne Arundel County feeling anxious and fearful.
The shooting of the woman, identified by family as Renee Nicole Good, 37, occurred as Homeland Security intensified immigration enforcement operations in Minnesota, deploying 2,000 agents and officers. This incident marks one of several violent confrontations between ICE agents and community members, and at least the fifth fatality.
“The situation in Minneapolis felt very similar to what happened here,” said Andrew McCormack, a resident of the Glen Burnie neighborhood where the Christmas Eve shooting occurred. “It’s quite frightening to witness gunfire so close to home, and I question whether such actions should be taken at all.”
Francis Tindoga, also from Glen Burnie, remarked, “It’s the same narrative.”
“They claim the individuals tried to run over an officer, which is why they fired,” they added.
