An armed man accused of throwing Molotov

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The shooting took place around 4:00 am local time, in front of the North West Detention Center of the US Immigration and Customs Forces, where the man attempted to put the building up and parked cars on fire, according to police spokeswoman Loretta Cool.

Authorities did not immediately identify the man who was armed with a rifle, asserting in a statement that "the forensic pathologist will communicate the identity of the victim where appropriate".

It was not known if the man had shot at the police, said Cool. Authorities are examining images of surveillance cameras at the detention center as part of the investigation, she said.

The assault on the privately run immigration detention center was held in the midst of protests against the ICE project to begin Sunday the previously reported raids across the country. The goal is the arrest of thousands of migrant families for whom court orders must already be withdrawn, according to US officials.

A peaceful rally against the raids at the Tacoma detention center ended about six hours before the shooting, Cool said.

Immigration law enforcement actions have sparked protests in nearly a dozen US cities, spurred criticism from mayors and immigrant rights activists, and sparked a wave of violence. fear among undocumented immigrants across the country.

The reason for the attack of the armed man before dawn is not clear.

"We do not know the motivation," Governor Jay Inslee told CNN on Saturday. "I will keep an open mind about this as the investigation progresses and hope that calm can be on the agenda."

Inslee stated that he did not know if the attacker was targeting inmates or staff members.

"We know right now that the community is extremely anxious," he said. "We know that the inhumanity that reigns at the border is very angry, and I know that seeing children in cages is extremely heartbreaking for all of us, and I know that at the moment we have to hope we can stay calm."

Inslee, a Democratic presidential candidate, said the Trump government was trying "intentionally to create anxiety and fear" among undocumented families.

The Tacoma facility, which hosts nearly 1,500 inmates, has been the scene of more than a dozen hunger strikes in recent years, each involving a dozen to hundreds of detainees, for complaints regarding lack of food and medical care, among others.

Police said that the man had burned a vehicle in the parking lot of the center and had tried to light a propane tank with the help of a flare in order to set fire to building. Officers called the man and shots were fired, according to a police statement. It's unclear if the man fired on the officers, said Cool.

The gunman died on the scene. four officers involved in the shooting were put on administrative leave by departmental policy. The incident is under investigation.

This weekend, ICE launched an operation targeting migrants awaiting a court-ordered referral, which had been canceled in June.

The agency had then planned to arrest and deport families to Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New Orleans, New York and San Francisco.

The raids sparked pro-immigrant protests across the country this weekend, including a rally and march to the ICE headquarters in Chicago on Saturday, reported CNN's affiliate. , WLS.

NYPD Sergeants Union urges its members to stand alongside ICE agents

In NYC, the NYPD Sergeants Benevolent Association has urged its 13,000 active and retired members to stand "side by side" with CIE agents making arrests throughout the weekend, according to a message posted on the account. Twitter of the union.

"They are members of law enforcement, just like you, and we must never participate in the policy of our duty to uphold the law," said union president Ed Mullins in a statement. memo circulated Friday between its members.

Mullins urged members "NOT to leave an abandoned Supreme Court officer where they needed help and to stand side by side with each officer so that they too could go home." them safely.

He also asked members to contact the union if they "met resistance" from the NYPD or the city to help the officers needing help.

In response to the union's note, the NYPD said in a statement Saturday that it "is not involved in the application of the Civil Immigration Act." Our department has been working tirelessly to engage immigrant communities and include them in our process of maintaining order ".

New York Democrat Mayor Bill de Blasio has used this week's impending raids as an opportunity to amplify his calls for the abolition of ICE.

"It's a politics of fear and division – and further evidence that we must abolish ICE," Blasio said on Thursday in a tweet. "Our city is stronger, safer and more prosperous than ever before our communities of immigrants, and we will do everything in our power to protect them."

Shawn Nottingham and Julia Jones of CNN contributed to this report.

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