Norlan Guzman-Fuentes, 37, a victim in the Sept. 24 sniper attack on a Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, spent time in Palm Beach County more than 10 years ago.
The connection, raised by ICE officials in a prepared statement on the attack, is noteworthy because the federal agency’s pointing to Guzman-Fuentes’s “criminal background” dating back to a 2012 arrest in the Palm Beaches may help explain why he was in ICE custody at the time of the shooting.
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security said in a Sept. 29 news release that Guzman-Fuentes, an undocumented immigrant from El Salvador, suffered a “tragic fatal gunshot wound during a senseless sniper assault on the ICE Dallas Field Office.”
Another undocumented immigrant, Miguel Angel Garcia-Hernandez, 32, who was on life support following the shooting, died from his injuries on Sept. 30.
What was the nature of undocumented immigrant’s Palm Beach case?
DHS said Guzman-Fuentes’ “criminal background dates back to 2012 when the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office arrested and charged him for battery, improper exhibit of a firearm or dangerous weapon and criminal mischief,” according to the news release. All charges were dropped except for criminal mischief, according to the release.
A review of Palm Beach County records founds that Guzman-Fuentes was charged in 2011 for criminal mischief and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon. But he was not arrested until 2012 for simple battery at a restaurant.
Guzman-Fuentes was 22 in 2011 when deputies say he went to the home of a man who had “slashed him five times with a machete” the night before. According to court records, Guzman-Fuentes used rocks and tree branches to break the windows of his alleged assailant’s apartment in Lake Worth Beach, then left. Deputies estimated he caused $500 worth of damage.Though a judge issued a warrant for his arrest, deputies didn’t take Guzman-Fuentes into custody until February of the following year when he was spotted punching the owner of La Cantina Restaurant, also in Lake Worth Beach.
Deputies noted in their arrest reports, both for the window incident and the restaurant fight, that Guzman-Fuentes was not a U.S. citizen.
Arrested in February 2012 on suspicion of simple battery, criminal mischief and improper exhibition of a dangerous weapon — all of which are misdemeanors that carry a penalty of one year in jail — Guzman-Fuentes pleaded guilty only to criminal mischief, but he did not receive jail time.
As part of his plea agreement, Palm Beach County prosecutors opted not to pursue the battery and weapons charge.
During a visit to La Cantina on Sept. 30, a manager told a Palm Beach Post reporter that the restaurant had been operated under new ownership for at least six years and nobody remembered the 2012 incident.
Why was undocumented man at ICE facility during shooting?
Guzman-Fuentes’ path to the Dallas ICE facility began Aug. 25 when, according to an ICE statement, Dallas police “arrested and charged” him with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon while also enforcing an outstanding warrant for a charge of driving while intoxicated.
The ICE statement said they “encountered” Guzman-Fuentes at the Dallas County Jail and “lodged an immigration detainer,” an administrative move to keep him in custody for up to two days even if a judge permitted him access to bail.
On Sept. 10, the charge of the aggravated assault with a deadly weapon charge was dismissed, the statement said. On Sept. 24, an ICE “enforcement and removal operation” apprehended Guzman in accordance with the detainer.
“Upon arrival to the ERO Dallas Field Office, ICE officers encountered an active shooter at the facility, targeting immigration officials” and Guzman-Fuentes was among those killed.
Valentina Palm covers Royal Palm Beach, Wellington, Greenacres, Palm Springs and other western communities in Palm Beach County for The Palm Beach Post. Email her at vpalm@pbpost.com. Support local journalism: Subscribe today.
This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: ICE points to sniper victim’s arrest in Palm Beach County. Why was undocumented man here?
Reporting by Valentina Palm and Hannah Phillips, Palm Beach Post / Palm Beach Post
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
