Lorenzo Salgado Araujo shot and killed by ICE agent in Houston, authorities confirm: Live updates

A federal judge has ordered that the U.S. Department of Homeland Security release from custody the second of three witnesses to the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent, court records show.

In court documents filed Monday, Daniel Tirado Pantoja must be released from custody within 48 hours of the order. According to the order, authorities must release Pantoja in a public space in the Southern District of Texas, and his lawyers must be given three hours' notice of his release.

This marks the second witness to the deadly shooting in Houston's East End ordered to be released by a federal judge. In July, Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego was released from ICE detention after a federal judge's order. Both Pantoja and Rojas Pliego were passengers in Salgado Araujo's van when ICE officers began following the vehicle before shooting and killing him.

Read the full article here.

Harris County commissioners made available $2.5 million in taxpayer dollars for the District Attorney's office to continue an investigation into a deadly shooting involving ICE in Houston.

Commissioners approved the funding in a unanimous vote on Thursday.

At a news conference before the vote, District Attorney Sean Teare did not immediately disclose exactly what the money would be used for. Teare said the funds may go toward anything the independent investigation needs, which may include hiring more full-time personnel, overtime pay, or seeking outside counsel, if needed.

Teare said the money will be spread over the next three years, although it may not take that long to determine whether charges will be filed.

Read the full story here.

Jose Trinidad Rojas Pliego, one of the three men who were in the van with Lorenzo Salgado Araujo when he was shot and killed by an ICE agent, was released on Wednesday from the immigration detention center in Conroe after a judge's ruling, his attorney said.

In an update on Wednesday afternoon from Rojas Pliego's attorney, the family confirmed that Rojas Pliego had been released.

The order was filed on Monday and stated that Rojas Pliego was to be released within 48 hours.

Read the full report here.

Aaron Reitz took the oath of office earlier this month and, in his first statement, wrote that "Things are about to get very bad for criminals in the Southern District of Texas."

Reitz is the top federal law enforcement officer in the Southern District of Texas - an area that includes 43 counties and 10 million people. It stretches from Houston to the U.S. southern border.

He took office just two days after the ICE shooting death of undocumented immigrant Lorenzo Salgado Araujo. DHS said Salgado Araujo was not the target of their enforcement operation but tried to run over an officer with his van. Witnesses have refuted that, but Reitz said his office is among the agencies investigating what happened and they want the truth.

"The investigation is still ongoing," he said. "We draw no conclusions from what happened. Obviously it was a tragedy. But right now we don't know much. We have reason to believe it is not the hysterical, vigilante sort of justice that was happening."

Read the full story here.