The U.S. Department of Justice has charged an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent with making false statements regarding a January 2026 shooting in Minnesota. Sources familiar with the matter told the Associated Press that 52-year-old Christian Castro faces federal charges for his account of an incident that left a Venezuelan man, Julio Cesar Sosa-Celis, with a gunshot wound to the leg.
The shooting occurred on January 14 during "Operation Metro Surge," a federal immigration enforcement action in Minnesota. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) initially reported that Castro fired in self-defense after being attacked by three migrants with a broom handle and a snow shovel. However, surveillance video later raised questions about this version of events, leading federal prosecutors to dismiss charges against the migrants and open an investigation into the agents involved.
Minnesota state investigators allege that Castro fired his weapon through the closed front door of an apartment duplex where Sosa-Celis and another man, Alfredo Alejandro Aljorna, lived. According to state officials, the bullet passed through the door, struck Sosa-Celis in the thigh, and ultimately lodged in the wall of a child's bedroom. Minnesota has separately charged Castro with assault and false reporting of a crime.
The legal proceedings have been complicated by a jurisdictional dispute between Minnesota and Texas. Castro was arrested in Brownsville, Texas, in May and held for three months, but Texas Governor Greg Abbott refused to sign an extradition warrant to return him to Minnesota. Abbott cited "serious doubts" that Castro qualified as a fugitive. A federal judge subsequently refused to order the extradition, and Castro was released from Texas custody last week.
The scale of the underlying enforcement action, Operation Metro Surge, involved thousands of federal officers deployed to Minnesota. The operation resulted in the deaths of two U.S. citizens and, according to local reports, the departure of at least 1,700 students from Minnesota schools. For the individuals involved, the incident resulted in a non-fatal gunshot wound for Sosa-Celis and a three-month period of incarceration in Texas for Castro before his release.
A person familiar with the investigation will notice a shift in the legal focus toward the conduct of the federal agents rather than the migrants. This includes the firing of federal prosecutor Matthew Evans on September 3, 2026, who is now under investigation for alleged obstruction of a grand jury probe after he claimed the DOJ blocked more serious civil rights charges. While Castro was suspended without pay in February, the new federal charges mean he now faces potential federal prison time if convicted, in addition to the outstanding state charges in Minnesota. The next steps include the unsealing of the federal indictment and further decisions on whether additional civil rights charges will be brought as the federal probe continues.