A law enforcement officer is recovering after being shot near a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility in Alvarado late on the night of July 4th, in what federal authorities are describing as a coordinated attack.
Just before 11 p.m., Alvarado Police responded to a report of a suspicious person near the ICE Prairieland Detention Facility, located in Johnson County. When officers arrived, they encountered an individual believed to be armed. According to initial reports, multiple suspects then opened fire, striking one officer in the neck.
The injured officer was airlifted to a Fort Worth hospital and has since been treated and released, officials confirmed.
Law enforcement from the Johnson County Sheriff's Office assisted Alvarado police in responding to the incident. A total of eight suspects were arrested shortly after the shooting. Authorities say several of the individuals were armed and some were wearing body armor at the time of their arrest.
A federal law enforcement source told CBS News that prior to the shooting, more than a dozen masked individuals dressed in black arrived at the facility. The group reportedly set off fireworks, vandalized security cameras in the parking lot, and damaged multiple vehicles on site.
While authorities have not publicly released the identities or motives of the suspects, the scale and coordination of the incident have raised alarms at the federal level.
Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche of the U.S. Department of Justice acknowledged the incident in a statement on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “We are closely monitoring the attacks on DHS detention facilities in Prairieland, TX. The Department has zero tolerance for assaults on federal officers or property and will bring the full weight of the law against those responsible.”
As of publication, the Alvarado Police Department has not issued a formal public statement, and requests for comment from The Texan have gone unanswered. The Fort Worth Police Department has also not commented on the incident.
The Prairieland ICE facility, which opened in 2017, is owned by the City of Alvarado and operated by LaSalle Corrections. It can house up to 707 detainees and includes 14 housing units—11 dormitories and three secure cell units for higher-risk individuals. The facility provides access to recreation areas and electronic devices, and offers medical, mental health, and dental care without co-pays for detainees.
Investigations into the attack are ongoing, and federal agencies are expected to take over portions of the case given the involvement of federal property and potential threats to homeland security personnel.
