A Salvadoran man who his lawyer says is a family man and day laborer who's engaged to a US citizen was shot by ICE agents in Patterson, California Tuesday, south of Tracy. His lawyer says it was a case of poor investigative work by ICE.

ICE says it was seeking Carlos Ivan Mendoza Hernandez because he was wanted for questioning in connection with a murder in El Salvador, and because he is a member of the Los Angeles-based 18th Street Gang, or Barrio 18. In reality, his lawyer said, Hernandez was acquitted seven years ago in the El Salvador case, and is now engaged to be married to a California woman.

On Tuesday around 6:30 am, ICE agents performed a targeted traffic stop in Patterson, California, near an onramp to I-5, south of Tracy, which was captured on dashcam video from a nearby vehicle. In the video, you can see Hernandez in a black hatchback attempting to flee the scene, and an ICE officer opening fire into the driver's side window of the car. Hernandez was struck and injured in a scene reminiscent of the Minneapolis shooting of Renee Good, and his current condition is not known.

Similar to the Minneapolis shooting, ICE is saying that Hernandez "weaponized" his car and threatened the life of an ICE agent, however the video does not show the car directly threatening the armed ICE officer, but rather trying to get away from him.

As the New York Times reports, attorney Patrick Kolasinski gave a news briefing Wednesday with Hernandez's fiancee Cindy by his side. The couple has a small child together.

"He cannot possibly have a warrant out for his arrest in El Salvador," Kolasinski said at the news briefing, and he produced a document showing the 2019 acquittal. “That is a complete misstatement. And even if that wasn’t the case, that wouldn’t be an excuse to shoot somebody in the situation that he was in."

As KTVU notes, Kolanski initially told the media that the shooting was a case of mistaken identity, insisting that his client was not a member of any gang.

Kolanski says that, according to his fiancee, Hernandez was pulled over last Friday by Turlock police and agrressively questioned about a cracked windshield. The police took down Hernandez's information, and this likely led to the ICE incident, though there is currently no evidence that Turlock police contacted ICE.

Hernandez works on rehabbing fire-damaged homes, and was reportedly on his way to the Bay Area Tuesday morning for a job. He is a dual citizen of Mexico and El Salvador, and ICE says that he came to the US illegally in 2019.

Kolanski says he has not been able to speak with his client and is not sure of his current immigration status. Hernandez's family also says the hospital where he is being treated has not yet allowed them in to see him, and his condition is not known, per KTVU.

ICE continued to insist Wednesday, in an official statement, that Hernandez was "wanted in El Salvador for questioning in connection to a murder." It was unclear if this was the 2019 case, or some other case.