Carlos Jimenez, a US citizen from Ontario, California, has filed a lawsuit seeking more than $25 million from the federal government after an immigration officer shot him near a school bus stop last year.
Jimenez filed the 54-page complaint on 6 November. It names the Trump administration, ICE officer Eusebio Ortiz, two Customs and Border Protection officers, FBI Special Agent Estevan R. Banuelos and San Bernardino County as defendants.
According to the complaint, Jimenez was driving to work at a food pantry on 30 October 2025 when he came across an immigration enforcement operation. He says he approached officers to warn them that children would soon gather at a nearby bus stop.
The lawsuit alleges that Ortiz then shot him in the back and shoulder as he tried to leave the area. Jimenez says bullet fragments remain lodged near his right lung and that he suffered a displaced fracture of his right shoulder blade.
The complaint brings 13 causes of action, including excessive force, false arrest, malicious prosecution and inadequate medical care. It also alleges that federal agents interfered with his treatment after he reached hospital.
The Department of Homeland Security has given a different account. A spokesperson said Jimenez was not the target of the operation, pulled his vehicle in front of officers and reversed directly at them, and that the officer fired in self-defence.
Federal prosecutors charged Jimenez with assaulting a federal officer with a deadly weapon. Those charges were dismissed last week. The lawsuit argues that the account behind the prosecution was fabricated. The allegations in the civil complaint have not been tested in court.
Jimenez seeks $25 million in non-economic damages, plus about $179,000 for medical bills, lost earnings, property damage and other losses.
Source: The Guardian
