Fullerton Police Stop: Man Pointing Gun Revealed as ICE Agent

(FULLERTON, CALIFORNIA) Fullerton police rushed to a busy intersection after multiple 911 calls reported a man pointing a gun at a woman in her car on the evening of November 8, 2025, only to discover moments later that the armed man was a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer. The gun incident unfolded around 7:15 p.m. near Chapman Avenue and Harbor Boulevard, a well-traveled crossroads in the city, and ended without injuries or arrests after the man identified himself as a federal agent and officers verified his credentials at the scene.

Police said they arrived to find a man standing outside the driver’s window of a silver Honda Accord with a handgun directed toward the woman behind the wheel. The man, later identified as Special Agent Carlos Ramirez, 37, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent, complied when officers ordered him to drop the weapon. He set the firearm, a Glock 19, on the ground and told officers he was a federal agent. Officers handcuffed Ramirez, secured the gun, and checked his identification while the woman, Maria Torres, 29, an Anaheim resident, remained inside her vehicle.

Fullerton Police Chief Robert Dunn praised his officers’ quick response and described the sequence that led them from an apparent armed confrontation to a federal law enforcement credential check.

“Our officers acted swiftly to de-escalate what appeared to be a dangerous situation. Only after detaining the suspect did we learn he was a federal agent conducting an operation,” said Dunn.

The chief added that the department was not alerted beforehand. “At no time were Fullerton officers notified in advance of any ICE operation in the area.”

ICE spokesperson Leticia Zamora later confirmed that Ramirez was on duty when the confrontation occurred and characterized his presence in Fullerton as part of an active case.

“Special Agent Ramirez was engaged in a targeted enforcement action involving a subject with an outstanding federal warrant,” Zamora said.

She also said the agency would review how it coordinates work in city neighborhoods like this one. “We are reviewing our protocols to ensure better coordination with local law enforcement in the future.”

The encounter began with a flurry of emergency calls reporting a man pointing a gun at a woman in a vehicle. Responding officers moved in with their weapons drawn, confronted the man at the driver’s window, and ordered him to disarm. The woman at the center of the incident told reporters she had no idea who the man was until police arrived and intervened.

“I was terrified. I didn’t know who he was—he just came up to my window with a gun. He never showed a badge or said he was police until after the officers arrived,” said Maria Torres, whose car remained on the roadside as officers sorted out what had happened.

Torres’s account underscored the rapid and tense nature of the confrontation, and it captured how easily an enforcement action by a plainclothes officer can appear as a threat to someone who has not been informed. Officers at the scene emphasized that their immediate priority was to protect the woman in the vehicle and neutralize an obvious danger in a public place where traffic was moving and pedestrians were nearby. The decision to approach with guns drawn and demand the man disarm aligned with standard police practice when responding to an urgent report of an individual pointing a weapon.

After handcuffing Ramirez and securing his Glock 19 to prevent any further risk, officers verified that he was an ICE agent and confirmed the firearm was his duty weapon. Once that check was complete, police released Ramirez at the scene. No arrests followed, and no one reported injuries. The Fullerton Police Department said it is conducting a review of the incident, and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility is also examining the actions taken during the operation and the circumstances that led to the confrontation. ICE’s internal oversight arm reviews the conduct of its personnel and the procedures they follow; the agency has said it will look specifically at communication practices with local police. The federal office’s role in assessing agent conduct is outlined by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement Office of Professional Responsibility.

Chief Dunn’s public statements highlighted the core issue now drawing scrutiny: the absence of advance notice to the Fullerton Police Department about an enforcement action being carried out on city streets during the evening rush. While local departments and federal agencies often work together, Dunn said his officers had not received any heads-up that would have helped prevent confusion when the ICE agent confronted a driver with a gun in plain view of the public. That lack of advance warning meant city officers had to assess the threat and act in seconds, relying solely on the 911 descriptions and what they saw when they arrived.

Community groups and city leaders responded quickly, saying the episode demonstrates the risks when federal enforcement actions unfold without local coordination. The Orange County Immigrant Rights Coalition, a local advocacy group, said in a statement: “This incident underscores the dangers of uncoordinated federal enforcement in our communities.” Fullerton City Councilmember Jesus Silva echoed the call for better communication, telling residents that prevention starts with transparency between agencies before streetside confrontations spiral.

“We need transparency and communication to prevent these kinds of frightening encounters,” Silva said.

For people living and working near Chapman and Harbor, the sight of officers drawing down on a man with a gun at a car window brought traffic to a halt and left bystanders alarmed until the scene was stable. The convergence of multiple patrol cars, police taking positions, and firm shouted commands to drop the weapon set the tone before the sudden turn, when the man identified himself as a federal agent on an active case. The resolution, with no one hurt and no arrests, did little to erase questions about how different the outcome might have been if either side had misread the situation in those first moments.

The ICE agent’s presence in Fullerton on a targeted enforcement action raises practical questions about how federal officers approach subjects in public spaces and how they identify themselves when circumstances shift quickly. Torres’s statement that the man did not display a badge before officers arrived sits at the heart of those concerns. She said she remained in her driver’s seat, watching a stranger with a gun at her window, unsure whether he was a criminal or a police officer. Officers at the scene subsequently determined that Ramirez was acting in his capacity as a federal agent. ICE’s Zamora said the incident was tied to a person with an outstanding federal warrant, suggesting that Ramirez moved quickly to intercept a target, even as the encounter took place in view of passing drivers.

The weapon at the scene, a Glock 19, is a common sidearm for law enforcement, and its presence, drawn and pointed, set the immediate stakes for responding officers. Witnesses who called 911 described a man aiming a handgun at a woman sitting in her car. Those calls led police to approach with heightened caution, ordering the man to disarm before they could even begin to piece together who he was and why he was there. Only after he put the gun down, identified himself, and surrendered to handcuffs did officers take the next steps to verify his identity.

Chief Dunn’s description of the police response emphasized that the department treated the situation as an imminent threat until facts proved otherwise.

“Our officers acted swiftly to de-escalate what appeared to be a dangerous situation. Only after detaining the suspect did we learn he was a federal agent conducting an operation,” he said.

The chief’s follow-up remark—“At no time were Fullerton officers notified in advance of any ICE operation in the area.”—captured the central point of friction that city officials and ICE representatives now say they are working to address.

ICE’s response acknowledged that better planning is needed before agents engage in public enforcement actions within city limits.

“We are reviewing our protocols to ensure better coordination with local law enforcement in the future,” Zamora said.

That promise points to an administrative fix aimed at preventing a repeat scenario in which local police, unaware of a federal operation, confront an armed plainclothes ICE agent in a crowded area, while residents watch in fear and confusion.

For Torres, the moments before police arrived were filled with uncertainty and fear.

“I was terrified. I didn’t know who he was—he just came up to my window with a gun. He never showed a badge or said he was police until after the officers arrived,” she said.

Her account will likely feature in the joint review now underway, given the questions it raises about how federal officers identify themselves to people they approach and how quickly they communicate their status when the situation escalates.

The joint review by the Fullerton Police Department and ICE’s Office of Professional Responsibility will examine the entire timeline from the first 911 call to the on-scene verification of Ramirez’s credentials. Such a review typically considers the commands officers gave, how the ICE agent responded, the handling of the firearm, and whether communication protocols were followed or need to be changed. ICE’s internal watchdog will look at the decisions made by Ramirez during his enforcement action and the choices that led him to engage at a driver’s window with a weapon drawn. Fullerton police will evaluate their own response, including how rapidly officers moved to disarm an apparent threat and how quickly they adapted once they learned the man was a federal agent.

Local reaction has focused on the shock of seeing an ICE agent at the center of a gun incident that unfolded in public and on the fear it caused for the woman in the car and bystanders nearby. “This incident underscores the dangers of uncoordinated federal enforcement in our communities,” said the Orange County Immigrant Rights Coalition, arguing that unannounced federal actions on city streets can put residents and officers in harm’s way. Councilmember Silva added a reminder that cooperation before the fact—rather than damage control after—should be the norm.

“We need transparency and communication to prevent these kinds of frightening encounters,” he said.

In the end, Ramirez was released at the scene after officers confirmed his identity and authority. No arrests were made, and both the city and ICE reported no injuries. The outcome spared Fullerton a more serious confrontation, but it left an imprint on a Friday night at one of the city’s busiest intersections and opened a debate about how federal and local law enforcement should share information, especially when operations can unfold in seconds. ICE’s statement that the agent was pursuing a subject with a federal warrant, coupled with the police chief’s acknowledgment that he had no advance notice of an operation, frames the narrow path that agencies must navigate between acting swiftly on active cases and keeping local partners informed.

What began with a flurry of 911 calls about a man with a gun ended with a federal credential check on the curb and a promise from ICE to review how it coordinates with departments like Fullerton’s. For Torres, the immediate danger passed when uniformed officers arrived and took control. For police and ICE leadership, the work now shifts to boards and review teams tasked with ensuring that the next time an ICE agent confronts a subject in public, local officers are not left guessing—and residents are not left terrified—about who is holding the gun and why.