The Washington state resident who killed a sheriff’s deputy and injured a police officer following a chase this week had been illegally present in the U.S.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said Juan Manuel Flores Del Toro was a Mexican citizen who originally entered the country in 2014. He legally entered on a temporary agricultural worker visa through Texas.
Flores was never documented leaving the country or applying for a new visa, indicating he remained in the U.S. after his visa expired and did not return to Mexico through a port of entry.
Flores was reported to emergency dispatchers as being part of a “road rage type event” in Kittitas County, Wash., Tuesday evening, according to a local report.
Law enforcement caught up with Flores, who refused to pull over. He led police and sheriff’s deputies on a chase before crashing into a home inside a trailer park.
The 29-year-old driver got out of his vehicle, then opened fire on police, fatally shooting Deputy Ryan Thompson.
Kittitas police officer Benito Chavez, 22, was shot in the leg, but is in good condition as of Thursday.
Flores was shot and killed at the scene.
Ellensburg Police Capt. Dan Hansberry said Flores had lived in Ellensburg, also located in central Washington. He did not share in a press conference Thursday why Flores evaded police and said Flores did not have any warrants for his arrest.
Police had “limited contacts with him” in the past, but “nothing of real significance,” Hansberry said.
