Suspect in deadly Texas Chick-fil-A shooting in US illegally, ICE confirms


Authorities Texas say the suspect in a deadly shooting that killed two people inside a fast-food restaurant is in custody, and that he is in the United States illegally.

Oved Bernardo Mendoza Argueta, 37, was sought Wednesday evening after a shooting occurred at a Chick-fil-A in the 5300 block of North MacArthur Boulevard in Irving, police announced on Facebook. 

“We can confirm that the suspect was taken into custody early this morning,” a spokesperson for Irving Police Department told Fox News Digital on Thursday morning, adding later that Mendoza Argueta has an “ICE hold,” with the warrant agency being Immigration and Naturalization Service Dallas/Fort Worth.

An ICE spokesperson later confirmed to Fox News Digital that the agency’s Enforcement and Removal Operations in Dallas “lodged an immigration detainer with the Irving Police Department on Mendoza.” Such detainers are usedby ICE to request that state and local law enforcement agencies let them know before an individual is released, so that federal authorities and pick them up.

The shooting happened around 3:40 p.m., according to an arrest warrant that identified one of the victims as Patricia Portillo. The document states Mendoza Argueta is the spouse of a Chick-fil-A employee who was a witness and “identified the defendant with certainty.”

MANHUNT UNDERWAY AFTER REPORTS OF A ‘TARGETED’ CHICK-FIL-A SHOOTING IN TEXAS: POLICE

The suspect of a June 26 shooting in Texas has been identified as Oved Bernardo Mendoza Argueta, 37. (Irving Police Department)

Police say the second victim’s name was redacted from the document due to next-of-kin notification needing to be made. 

During the manhunt, police released a photograph of Mendoza Argueta alongside a picture of the 1997 Honda 4-door car he was last seen driving.

MULTIPLE INJURED, 1 KILLED IN BIZARRE VEHICLE SHOOTING, STABBING ON WASHINGTON STATE HIGHWAY

Booking photo of Oved Bernardo Mendoza Argueta. (Irving Police Department)

An official said they believed the shooting was “a targeted incident and that this was not a random act of violence.”

Television footage showed that screens had been placed in front of some of the windows at a Chick-fil-A restaurant, and several police cars were in the parking lot, which was blocked off.

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Chick-fil-A, the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement did not immediately respond to a request for comment. 

Fox News’ Andrea Vacchiano and the Associated Press contributed to this report. 



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