ICE deportation plane struck by stray bullet during Mesa police shootout

An airplane used for U.S. Immigration
and Customs Enforcement deportation efforts was hit by a stray bullet
last week during a shootout between Mesa police officers and a suspect
at Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport.

ICE officials said the stray bullet
didn’t impact the aircraft’s ability to fly, and it isn’t clear who
fired the bullet that struck the plane. 

In the early morning hours of Oct.
29, the Mesa Police Department responded to a trespassing call at a
private property near the airport, where officers encountered
34-year-old Cameron Oberlin. 

Oberlin had already been asked to
leave by a private security guard for trespassing. When police arrived,
he fled and police used a “grappler device” to stop his car, according to media reports. 

After a standoff, Oberlin and
officers fired at each other and one officer was struck in his right
side. That officer has since been released from the hospital, according
to a Mesa Police Department spokesperson. 

Oberlin died from what Mesa PD said was a “self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head.” 

“A contracted charter aircraft,
N801XT, was struck by a stray bullet while parked on the tarmac at
Mesa-Gateway Airport in Mesa, Arizona,” ICE said in a statement to the
Arizona Mirror. “The bullet bounced off the plane, and no damage was
reported. The incident was reported to the Mesa Police Department. The
aircraft was not scheduled for a flight on the day of the incident, and
its airworthiness was not affected. Operations were not impacted.” 

Mesa police did not provide further
information when asked about ICE’s statement and if they had determined
who the bullet belonged to. 

Arizona, and specifically
Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, play a crucial role in ICE’s aerial
deportation efforts, which have surged during President Donald Trump’s
second term. The airport hosts the agency’s headquarters for its
deportation flights, known informally as “ICE Air,” which uses
subcontractors and subleases to disguise deportation aircraft.

The airport is also home to a lesser-known detention facility. 

While ICE said the aircraft was not impacted by the bullet, historical flight data
shows the aircraft was in use the next day — but its flight was aborted
minutes after takeoff when the plane turned around and landed without
incident. It has not left the airport since. ICE did not respond to
follow up questions about the aborted flight. 

The aircraft is owned by Avelo Airlines, which has been making deportation flights out of Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport amid increasing public scrutiny. The company has begun painting the aircraft it uses all white, removing their livery as protests of Trump’s deportation agenda have intensified.

Prior to being struck by the stray
bullet, the aircraft had been regularly flying to other ICE detention
facilities, as well as countries, including Honduras and Guatemala.