The three men who were traveling with the Mexican immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo the day he died after being shot by agents of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Service (ICE) denied the official version of the Trump administration and assured that the victim never tried to run over a federal agent.

According to The New York Times, the witnesses remain detained in an immigration detention center and offered their version of events through their lawyer, Hugo Balderas-Ibarra, who stated that the three fully agree that no agent was in front of the vehicle when the shots occurred.

Witnesses deny that Salgado attacked an agent

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) maintains that the operation occurred around 6:50 in the morning, when ICE agents were trying to detain another person. According to the official version, Salgado accelerated the truck and tried to run over an agent, who responded by shooting, supposedly in self-defense.

However, the lawyer for the three occupants rejected that narrative.

"After speaking with these three men who were in the vehicle with Lorenzo, I have no doubt that what they say is true. All three reiterated that at no time was an agent in front of the vehicle or exposed to danger," declared Hugo Balderas-Ibarra during a press conference.

So far, authorities have not released images of the moment the shooting occurred.

Videos and investigation keep the case open

According to the aforementioned media, surveillance videos show two ICE vehicles following the truck before intercepting it, although the images known so far do not capture the moment the shots were fired.

Congresswoman Sylvia García also revealed that the acting director of ICE, David Venturella, confirmed to her that the agents involved were not wearing body cameras nor did the vehicles have dashboard cameras that recorded the operation.

The investigation was left to the Department of Homeland Security's Office of Inspector General, while the FBI is also participating in the investigations.

The family of Lorenzo Salgado, 52, originally from the State of Mexico, has requested an independent investigation. The Harris County medical examiner classified the death as a homicide.

During a press conference, his son Ronaldo Salgado asked that his father be remembered for the life he built for more than 35 years in the United States, where he raised a family and ran a construction company.

“He wanted nothing more in life than to support his wife and see his children become good people,” he said.