Second detainee dies one week after Dallas ICE facility shooting: ‘His death is a senseless tragedy’
Miguel Ángel García-Hernández was a father of four children — and expecting a fifth — when he was shot outside the ICE facility
The second detainee injured at the Immigration and Customs Enforcement facility in Dallas, where a shooting attack erupted last week, has died.
Miguel Ángel García-Hernández, 32, succumbed to his injuries after being removed from life support following the September 24 sniper attack on the Dallas ICE field office that left four people shot, including the gunman. The 32-year-old Mexico native had been critically injured in the shooting.
“His death is a senseless tragedy that has left our family shattered. I do not know how to explain to our children that their father is gone,” Stephany Gauffeny, his wife, said in a statement to the League of United Latin American Citizens.
She’s expecting their fifth child.
"My husband Miguel was a good man, a loving father, and the provider for our family," she said. "We had just bought our first home together, and he worked hard every single day to make sure our children had what they needed.”
A sniper is accused of opening fire on the ICE facility from a nearby rooftop, shooting three detainees, the Department of Homeland Security said. At the time, one detainee was pronounced dead while two others were taken to hospitals, fighting for their lives.
García-Hernández, a house painter, was shot four times — including in the neck — while handcuffed in the back of a government van in the sallyport, according to the New York Times.
The suspected gunman, 29-year-old Joshua Jahn, died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Another detainee, 37-year-old Norlan Guzmán-Fuentes, who migrated from El Salvador, was identified as the first victim killed in the attack, ICE said in a Monday statement.
A GoFundMe page for García-Hernández has garnered more than $68,000. The money will go towards funeral expenses and to help support his family, the fundraiser says.
The Department of Homeland Security labeled the attack as “an attack on ICE law enforcement,” with FBI Director Kash Patel posting photos on social media of shell casings, capturing one scrawled with the phrase: “ANTI ICE.”
A collection of notes, found in the shooter’s home, expressed negative views toward ICE and the federal government, Nancy Larson, acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas, said at a press conference last week.
He acted alone in the attack and had been planning it for months, according to authorities.
“Yes, it was just me and my brain,” one note said. Another suggested he wanted to “maximize lethality” against ICE agents, Larson said.
“He hoped to minimize any collateral damage or injury to the detainees and any other innocent people. It seems that he did not intend to kill the detainees or harm them,” she added.