Two shot by border agent in Portland have Tren de Aragua ties, DHS and police say

by KATU Staff and Bobby Corser,TanviVarma

Fri, January 9, 2026 at 7:20 AM

Updated Fri, January 9, 2026 at 8:04 PM

Luis David Nico Moncada andYorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras have been confirmed as the husband and wife shot by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in southeast Portland - DHS 

PORTLAND, Ore. (KATU) — We're learning more about the two people shot Thursday by a U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent in Southeast Portland, with the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and Portland Police confirming the two had ties to the Tren de Aragua criminal group.

DHS identified the two people as as Luis David Nino-Moncada and Yorlenys Betzabeth Zambrano-Contreras. Both were taken to the hospital after the shooting.

Nino-Moncada, who was shot in the arm, is out of the hospital and is now in FBI custody.

Zambrano-Contreras was shot in the chest. Portland Police Chief Bob Day said she remains in stable condition.

The shooting happened at about 2:20 p.m. Thursday outside the Adventist Health clinic near Southeast Main Street. Officials say Moncada was behind the wheel of the vehicle on Thursday when he was shot. Zambrano-Contreras was a passenger in the vehicle.

DHS said the duo "weaponized their vehicle against Border Patrol" and the agent fired at them in self-defense.

They drove more than 2.5 miles to Northeast 146th Avenue and East Burnside, where they were found and taken to the hospital.

KATU is working to obtain evidence that can explain what happened.

New details revealed in Portland Border Patrol shooting

Preface to the recent event on Thursday (1-8-2026) afternoon in a medical clinic parking lot near Adventist Health hospital in Southeast Portland:

Our people have been regarded as too insignificant to be worthy of notice, but a change will come. The Christian world is now making movements which will necessarily bring commandment-keeping people into prominence.

- Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p.546.

 

DHS identifies 2 shot by federal agents in Portland

2 shot by federal immigration agents in Portland

Updated: Jan. 08, 2026, 7:52 p.m.
|Published: Jan. 08, 2026, 5:39 p.m.

Adventist Health Portland in Southeast Portland on Jan. 8, 2026.Allison Barr/The Oregonian


By Shane Dixon Kavanaugh | The Oregonian/OregonLive
Maxine Bernstein | The Oregonian/OregonLive


U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents shot and wounded a man and a woman Thursday afternoon in a medical clinic parking lot near Adventist Medical Center in Southeast Portland, authorities and witnesses said.

One was shot in the leg and the other in the chest, Portland police sources said. They are believed to be a married couple. Police said they didn’t know their immediate conditions.

The shooting occurred about 2:25 p.m. near the 10000 block of Southeast Main Street, the FBI said in a statement to their X account that was deleted shortly after.

“This remains and active and ongoing investigation led by the FBI,” the statement said.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin, said agents were trying to make a traffic stop and characterized the shooting as self-defense.

She said the person agents tried to stop was a “Venezuelan illegal alien affiliated with the transnational Tren de Aragua prostitution ring” who had been involved in a recent shooting in Portland. Another person was in the car, too, she said.

“When agents identified themselves to the vehicle occupants, the driver weaponized his vehicle and attempted to run over the law enforcement agents,” she said. “Fearing for his life and safety, an agent fired a defensive shot. The driver drove off with the passenger, fleeing the scene. This situation is evolving, and more information is forthcoming.”

She didn’t release any names.

Japhet De Oliveira, a spokesperson for Adventist Health, said police responded to the shooting in the Adventist Health Portland campus in an area with several clinics and offices.

Tina Henderson, who works in the medical office at the shooting scene, said someone ran into her suite and said, “You guys, be careful. There was just a shooting in the parking lot.”

Border Patrol agents shoot 2 people in Portland, OR

Immigrants across US hold day of protest in response to Trump's immigrat...

AT1 Speaker Chris Oberg Answers the Question, “How Does Christ Challenge Culture?”

We can’t wait to hear from Chris Oberg, Lead Pastor at La Sierra University Church, who will be speaking for our October 4-6 AT1 gathering taking place in Portland, Oregon.

We asked Chris, along with the rest of our presenters, to answer the question “How Does Christ Challenge Culture?” in 80 words or less. Here are her thoughts:

I’m a girl raised in the Church. Sabbath School, church, potluck or meals with Adventist family and friends and Saturday night socials were for the implied purpose of escaping culture. Adventism created a sub-culture that encouraged us to stand strong against worldly winds. Grateful for my upbringing, I am still recovering from the instinct to escape the world and hunker down for the next one. When I watch Jesus standing inside his culture for the sake of loving God’s world, I see my/our assignment.

Rowdy right-wing rally-goers flood Portland park amid heavy police presence

Doug Stanglin, USA TODAY 

Published 10:37 a.m. ET Aug. 4, 2018 | Updated 3:42 p.m. ET Aug. 4, 2018

(Photo: Mark Graves, The Oregonian, AP)

Portland police, braced for possible violent clashes, manned barricades and metal detectors downtown Saturday as the right-wing group Patriot Prayer gathered for a rally amid boisterous counter-protesters in the third such face-off in two months.

The event also comes ahead of the one-year anniversary of the "Unite the Right" rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, last August that deteriorated into clashes between protesters and counter-protesters and left one person dead.

People on both sides swarmed the area wearing protective pads or vests, many also wearing masks or covering themselves with bandanas. Police kept the two groups separated by barricades and by a street in front of the waterfront park.

Police warned via Twitter that no one carrying a rifle, shotgun or other long-gun in Tom McCall park, site of the rally.

At one point, police said on bullhorns that they had observed some people among the counter-protesters carrying weapons, and ordered a section of the event area cleared.

 

Police also said that any item, such as a flag pole, or a homemade shield, that could be used as a weapon, will be confiscated.

"I continue to strongly reject the idea that violence or hate speech are legitimate means to a political end," Mayor Ted Wheeler said on the eve of the event, adding that he and the Portland police chief "have serious concerns about the potential for violence" at the events.

As groups began to gather, a Patriot Prayer leader who identified himself only as "Tiny" told a KATU-TV reporter that he was there to "stand up for freedom and our constitution."


Wearing a partial mask and a black t-shirt that read "Pinochet did nothing wrong," Tiny said he and other supporters were wearing protective gear against counter-protesters.

"Last time I showed up without these, I got smashed with a wooden stick," "We are going to gear up."

"Unarmed people have been attacked for standing up for a president they support, just for standing up for freedom," he said.

The march, planned for months, has been organized by Joey Gibson, leader of the Patriot Prayer group, and a long-shot Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate in the state of Washington.

It comes five weeks after clashes between left and right on June 30 in which both sides, including masked anti-fascist groups, battled in downtown Portland, pummeling and striking each other. Police declared the event a riot and revoked rally permits.


A similar Patriot Prayer event on June 4 devolved into fistfights and assaults by both sides as police struggled to keep the groups apart.

As supporters jostled among the crowds and media at the park, Gibson took a mic at one point to rally the already boisterous crowd, saying, "We are going to make change. We just keep going."

He said the group was there to express their views as guaranteed by the constitution, not to fight.

Gibson said in a live video on Facebook earlier this week that he won’t stop bringing his followers to Portland until they can express their right-wing views without interference.

“I refuse to do what Portland wants me to do because what Portland wants me to do is to shut up and never show up again," he said. "So yeah, I refuse to do that, but I will not stop going in, and I will not stop pushing, and I will not stop marching until the people of Portland realize that and realize that their methods do not work,” he said.

Organizers say that while Patriot Prayer denies being a white supremacist group, it affiliates itself with known white supremacists, white nationalists and neo-Nazi gangs.

In addition, self-described anti-fascists – or “antifa” – have been organizing anonymously online to confront Patriot Prayer and an affiliated group, the Proud Boys, in the streets.

The Facebook page for Resist Patriot Prayer: Violent Alt-Right Bigots Off Our Streets," the group said it is willing to use physical force if necessary against "Joey and his Alt Right goons."

"History has shown that militant resistance is a necessary and important tool in the fight against fascism," the event page said. "We make no apologies for the use of force in keeping our communities safe from the scourge of right-wing violence. Make no mistake, these people are coming here with the intent to harm and threaten people."

Effie Baum, a spokesperson with Popular Mobilization, said her group was formed solely to mobilize counter-protesters for Saturday, OregonLive reports.

"One thing we all have in common is our opposition to white supremacy, transphobia and homophobia," said Baum said, according to OregonLive.

“Patriot Prayer is continuing to commit violence in our city, and their events are becoming more and more violent,” she said. “Leaving them a small group to attack in the streets is only going to allow them to perpetuate their violence.”

Contributing: The Associated Press

Source

Three day metro-wide disaster drill will simulate bioterrorism attack

By Stuart Tomlinson, The Oregonian 

on May 20, 2013 at 11:52 AM, updated May 20, 2013 at 4:55 PM

The U. S. Department of Homeland Security conducted a full scale simulated terrorist attack conducted at Portland International Raceway in October 2007. The event called Top Officials Exercise or, TOPOFF 4, was based on a detonation of a dirty bomb in Portland. Here, officials document firefighters assisting injured persons. A similar drill will unfold over three days starting Tuesday.Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian 2007

As preparedness drills go, the 3-day PACE (Portland Area Capabilities Exercise) Setter bioterrorism exercise that starts Tuesday is big. The exercise--which simulates a terrorist attack involving a biological weapon--will unfold across 50 different venues and some 65 jurisdictions from Gresham to Tigard.

Officials say it’s the largest such exercise undertaken since 2007, when a drill known as TOPOFF tested a simulated response to a dirty bomb explosion in Portland.

“Exercises such as this are critical to identifying strengths and weaknesses in our response capabilities and to understanding the complexities of multi-state, multi-agency incident response operations,” said Scott Porter, director of Washington County Emergency Management and co-chair of the exercise process.

The exercise is designed to test the region’s plans, operations, policies and response to a widespread, complex public health emergency.

The TOPOFF drill in 2007 simulated a dirty bomb explosion in Portland.fbi.gov

The purpose of the exercise is to test the region’s ability to respond to a complex public health incident affecting multiple agencies across several political boundaries. The exercise will address policy, plans and operations related to bioterrorism incident mobilization and response.

The imagined scenarios will play out at seven main locations, organizers said, on Wednesday and Thursday; Tuesday is reserved for planning and set-up.

But please note: These events are not designed to be visible to the public, but will be open for media coverage.

--Camp Withycombe in Clackamas: First responders will triage, decontaminate and treat patients at a simulated mass casualty incident. In addition to ground ambulances, LifeFlight helicopters will land at the camp.

--Portland Basic Earthquake Emergency Communication Node or BEECN, where volunteers will set up a tent and radio equipment at one of Portland’s 48 BEECN sites. 

http://www.portlandoregon.gov/pbem/article/423717

--Washington County Emergency Operations Center: A behind the scenes look at the how the county organizes the region’s response.

--Gresham Medical Care Point: More than 100 high school students will participate, presenting various symptoms to first responders. Thirty victims will be evacuated to hospitals for decontamination by medical personnel. Two students will make the trip via LifeFlight helicopter.

--Tigard POD, or Point of Dispensing: Volunteers will distribute mock medical countermeasures to participants.

--Fort Vancouver. Police and fire teams will remove simulated victims for triage
and treatment.

--Kellogg Middle School in Portland. Similar to plans for Fort Vancouver. ¶

“We want to make sure if and when this happens we are prepared as possible, said Kama Simonds, spokeswoman for the Regional Disaster Preparedness Organization. “It’s not an exam with a grade, it’s an opportunity to see where we can improve.”

At the same time, Southwest Washington emergency managers and first responders will also conduct a drill, this one known as WASABE (Washington State Annual Bioterrorism Exercise.)

This too will be a full-scale exercise involving local and state public health, emergency managers, hospitals, law enforcement and the Region IV Medical Reserve Corps. The Fort Vancouver event is not part of WASABE.

--Stuart Tomlinson

Source

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