Illinois State Police to investigate fatal ICE shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez
Illinois State Police to investigate fatal ICE shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez
Illinois State Police is investigating the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez last year by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in suburban Franklin Park.
FRANKLIN PARK, Ill. - Illinois State Police is investigating the fatal shooting of Silverio Villegas-Gonzalez last year by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in suburban Franklin Park.
What we know:
A spokesperson for ISP confirmed the probe came about after the Franklin Park Police Department requested the Public Integrity Task Force to look into the shooting.
Villegas-Gonzalez was shot and killed in suburban Franklin Park while attempting to flee from ICE officers during a traffic stop on Sept. 12.
The ISP spokesperson said when the investigation is complete, the case will be turned over to the Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office.
A spokesperson for the state's attorney's office said in a statement:
"We have been in contact with ISP and will play a supportive role in their investigation, in accordance with our Federal Immigration Enforcement Action Response Protocol. We are unable to comment further on a pending law enforcement investigation."
The backstory:
The incident shocked and outraged community members and local officials, who described Villegas-Gonzalez as a father figure. DHS said Villegas-Gonzalez, who was undocumented, was identified as a suspect and had a history of reckless driving.
Villegas-Gonzalez, who was born in Mexico but had been in the U.S. since 2007, had just dropped off his 7-year-old son at his elementary school and his 3-year-old son at daycare when he was stopped just before 9 a.m. by the ICE officers. The officers stopped their car in front of Villegas-Gonzalez's car, got out of their vehicle and walked up to his car.
Within a few seconds of conversing, Villegas-Gonzalez reversed his car and both agents appeared to keep their hands on the car's window frames, according to a report by the Illinois Accountability Commission, which cited surveillance footage of the incident. He drove around 50 feet in reverse before driving forward away from the agents and into open traffic.
There was no video taken of the agent who approached Villegas-Gonzalez on the driver's side of the car, but other surveillance footage did pick up the sounds of two gunshots. His car continued to move about 170 feet before it crashed into the undercarriage of a parked delivery truck.
Villegas-Gonzalez died within an hour of the shooting. The Cook County Medical Examiner's Office determined he had been fatally shot at close range. One bullet entered through the back of his neck and entered his chest cavity. The other bullet grazed two of his fingers.
The video reviewed by the commission and other media outlets did not clearly show which of the officers shot Villegas-Gonzalez.
After the shooting, Trump administration officials claimed one of the ICE officers involved in the incident was seriously injured when Villegas-Gonzalez allegedly tried to evade the agents. DHS said he drove his car at officers, dragging one of them before the officer shot him out of fear for his life.
But body camera footage from a Franklin Park police officer who responded to the scene showed the ICE officer saying his injuries were "nothing major," contradicting DHS’ initial statements.
The shooting of Villegas Gonzalez and of Marimar Martinez in Chicago during Operation Midway Blitz last year were among the most high-profile incidents in the two-month-long immigration enforcement campaign.
The Illinois Accountability Commission's report cited statements from DHS officials that contradicted video evidence of the shooting and DHS use-of-force policy that prohibits agents from shooting their gun "solely …[t]o disable moving vehicles."
In its report, the commission concluded: "As further documented in its Investigation Brief re Fatal Shooting of Silverio Villegas González, the Commission has determined that there is reasonable cause to believe that federal agents shot and killed Villegas González without apparent justification as he drove away from them and for tactics employed during the traffic stop that increased the risk of physical harm."
In a statement on Monday, Frankling Park Mayor Barrett Pedersen said he was "frustrated at the pace of the investigation regarding the death of Silverio Villegas Gonzalez’s death and the lack of an explanation of what exactly occurred on September 12, 2025.
The mayor added that "at the time of the shooting, DHS informed us that the FBI Field Office would oversee the investigation. As of today, we still have not received the results of their investigation from either the FBI or DHS."
The other side:
In response to the news of the investigation, Lauren Bis, the acting assistant secretary of homeland security, said in a statement:
"This is nothing more than a political stunt by Illinois sanctuary politicians. Federal officers acting in the course of their duties can only be investigated by other Federal agencies. The states do not have the authority to run an investigation."
Requests for comment from the FBI on the status of the federal investigation were not immediately returned.