03/07/2026
Three federal immigration agents accidentally shot themselves in the leg during routine training exercises within two days last year, according to internal documents
A fourth incident involved an accidental taser discharge inside an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) office.
All three firearm discharges occurred during quarterly training sessions while agents were holstering their weapons, a routine but potentially high-risk moment in fi****ms handling.
No one was killed in the incidents, and all injured personnel were treated and released, according to internal incident reports obtained by the watchdog American Oversight through a Freedom of Information Act
Two former senior ICE officials stated that accidental discharges were not uncommon and often involved experienced agents rather than new hires.
ICE has undergone a rapid expansion, with the Department of Homeland Security announcing in January that the agency had hired more than 12,000 new agents. ICE was supercharged with billions in funding after the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July. All four incidents reviewed by Newsweek came before the passage of President Donald Trump's flagship domestic legislation.
"Anytime there is a training incident that inflicts harm is a concern. Nevertheless, there can be multiple reasons for such occurrences, the officer or the equipment directly. These incidents are rare in occurrences—at this time, it needs to be quantified over a period of time pursuant to this mass hiring process," he added.
A 2017 research paper found that over 50 percent of unintentional discharges occurred during routine, non-high-threat tasks such as the handling and manipulation of fi****ms.
"Under Secretary Noem, DHS agents shoot themselves in the foot and U.S. citizens in the head. It's hard to understand how DHS vets and trains its recruits before unleashing them on the American public, or imagine a grimmer illustration of the U.S.'s self-defeating immigration enforcement policy," Andrew Fels, a staff attorney Al Otro Lado Staff stated.
Scott Mechkowski, who retired in 2018 as ICE's deputy field office director for Enforcement and Removal Operations in New York, said accidental discharges were not unique to ICE or HSI and should be viewed in the wider context of federal law enforcement.
Mechkowski cited a U.S. Justice Department review of federal agency shootings from 2000 to 2003—before the inception of ICE—involving the FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, U.S. Marshals Service, and Bureau of Alcohol, To***co, Fi****ms and Explosives. The review documented 267 total shooting incidents during that period, of which about 38 percent were unintentional discharges, showing that accidental firearm discharges have historically occurred across multiple federal law enforcement agencies.
"Accidental discharges, incidents do/will occur, unfortunately." Mechkowski said. Overall, I believe the training and safety mechanisms in place are standard and robust," Eighty percent of the time, it's operator error," whether due to an involuntary muscular response under stress, a lapse in human performance or, more rarely, a mechanical issue with a firearm.
Video ⬇️
