Man dies after attacking a detention center for migrants

TACOMA, Washington – A man armed with a rifle threw incendiary devices at an immigration prison in Washington State early Saturday morning, and was found dead after four police officers arrived. and opened fire, authorities said.

The Tacoma Police Department announced that police responded at around 4am to the Tacoma Northwest Detention Center, a US Department of Homeland Security Detention Center that holds migrants awaiting trial. d & # 39; expulsion. The detention center has also placed immigrant-seeking parents away from their children as part of President Donald Trump's "zero tolerance" policy to discourage illegal immigration.

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The shooting took place about six hours after a peaceful rally in front of the detention center, said police spokeswoman Loretta Cool. She added that another rally was scheduled for Saturday, but that it should be held in another area because of the police shootings investigation.

Police said the man had caused the fire of a vehicle and that he had tried to set fire to a large propane tank and set fire to buildings. The police said that in addition to the rifle, he had a satchel and flares.

Police said police called the man and shots were fired.

Cool said the four officers fired with their weapons, but she did not have specific details about what had happened. She added that the police did not carry a body camera, but that the area is covered by surveillance cameras in the detention center. She said she did not know if the man had shot the police.

After the shot, police officers went to the shelter, confined the area and set up medical help nearby, police said.

The officers then located the man and determined that he had been shot and that he had died on the scene. His name has not been published.

Authorities say the investigators are getting ready and the police are continuing their investigation. No law enforcement officer was injured. The four Tacoma policemen who fired their weapons were put on paid administrative leave, as is customary in shootings involving officers.

The motive for this man's actions has not been determined, said Cool.

In an e-mail to The Associated Press, the GEO group, which operates the 1,575-bed North West Detention Center, said unfounded accusations about the treatment of detainees on its premises "have led to misused aggression and a dangerous environment for our employees, whose safety is our priority priority No form of violence against our employees and our property will be tolerated.We are grateful for the fast action and courageous police department of Tacoma, which has prevented innocent lives from being endangered. "

The GEO group said the Tacoma detention center has modern amenities, such as air conditioning, leisure activities, a bed for each individual and medical care available at all times.

Last year, a federal judge ruled that the state of Washington could pursue its lawsuit to force the GEO group to pay the minimum wage for the work done by the detainees at the detention center.

In November, a Russian asylum seeker who went on a hunger strike to protest the conditions of detention in the detention center committed suicide, decided the office of the Pierce County Medical Examiner.

Mergensana Amar, 40, was removed from his survivor's center on November 15, after attempting suicide while being held in custody at the detention center, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement said.