Feds charge 11 suspects after ‘planned ambush’ at Alvarado ICE facility
Attorneys with the Department of Justice’s North Texas division unsealed charges against 11 suspects connected to a July 4 shooting at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility in Johnson County.
Ten of the 11 have connections to North Texas.
Court documents named 10 suspects who’ve been charged with three counts of attempted murder and three counts of discharging a firearm in furtherance of a crime, according to an unsealed federal complaint.
The charges come three days after an Alvarado police officer was shot while responding to an incident outside the Prairieland Detention Facility.
The suspects used fireworks and vandalism to lure ICE personnel out of the facility, acting U.S. Attorney Nancy Larson said Monday at a press briefing in Fort Worth. Larson said the intent was to attack the officials and kill them.
“Make no mistake — this was not a so-called peaceful protest. It was indeed an ambush,” she said.
The defendants include four Fort Worth residents, three from Dallas and one each from Kennedale, Waxahachie, and College Station, according to court documents. The documents identify the suspects as Autumn Hill, Savanna Batten, Nathan Baumann, Zachary Evetts, Joy Gibson, Meagan Morris, Maricela Rueda, Seth Sikes, Elizabeth Soto and Ines Soto.
If convicted they could face anywhere from 10 years to life in prison, Larson said.
The 11th suspect, a Garland resident, was charged with obstruction in a separate filing, according to court documents.
The incident began around 10:37 p.m. July 4 when about 10 to 12 people started shooting fireworks at the ICE detention facility, according to the complaint.
About 10 minutes later, one or two members of the group broke off to spray-paint vehicles and a guard booth with anti-ICE slogans.
Two ICE corrections officers came out of the facility around 10:58 p.m. shortly after calling 911.
The bullets started flying about a minute later, after the Alvarado police officer arrived, according to the complaint. Two shooters fired 20-30 rounds before fleeing the scene, the complaint states.
Investigators recovered an AR-style rifle near the location of one of the suspected shooters, which had apparently jammed, court documents said.
According to the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, the wounded officer was flown to Harris Methodist Hospital in Fort Worth and was treated and released.
The incident is part of larger trend of assaults against police officers, Larson said.
She pointed to statistics showing that the number of assaults against police in North Texas has jumped from seven in 2021 to 18 in 2024.
“This will not be tolerated,” Larson said, adding that anyone who uses violence against law enforcement officers will be found and prosecuted with the toughest criminal penalties available.
Acting ICE Field Office Director Joshua Johnson expressed his gratitude to the local and federal law officers who investigated the case.
“Threats of violence and attempts of vandalism at our ICE facilities will not deter our officers from fulfilling their duties,” Johnson said.
This story was originally published July 7, 2025 at 6:59 PM.
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