Routine firearms training for Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents took a painful turn in March 2025, when three officers accidentally shot themselves in the leg while holstering their service weapons during qualification drills, according to internal agency records. In a separate mishap the same month, a newly issued Taser was accidentally discharged inside an ICE office. None of the gunshot wounds were fatal, and all of the injured agents were treated and released.
Documents From Watchdog Detail Incidents and Training Records
The incidents came to light through internal ICE documents obtained via a Freedom of Information Act request and posted by the nonprofit American Oversight. The files include incident reports, training materials and internal emails that track multiple use-of-force events in early 2025.
According to American Oversight, those records show an uptick in reported incidents and outline an agency body-worn camera plan that has not yet been made public.
What Happened in March 2025
Internal logs reviewed by Newsweek describe a string of mishaps clustered over just two days.
On March 17, 2025, an Enforcement and Removal Operations officer in Baltimore grazed his upper right thigh while holstering his weapon during a firearms qualification, the records show. The next day, two Homeland Security Investigations employees accidentally discharged their service weapons while holstering during training sessions in Clayton and San Francisco. All three agents were treated either on site or at local hospitals and released.
The documents also describe a separate March incident at an ICE office in Cary, North Carolina, where an instructor accidentally deployed a newly issued Taser during an office training. In that case, no injuries were reported.
Former ICE officials and firearms trainers told Newsweek that accidental discharges do happen even among seasoned agents, typically because of human mistakes rather than equipment failures. Scott Mechkowski, a retired deputy field office director, said, “Eighty percent of the time, it’s operator error,” noting that federal officers must qualify with their weapons four times a year. He added that fatigue and high-tempo assignments can increase the likelihood of errors.
Training, Hiring Surge and Accountability
These training mishaps are surfacing as ICE undergoes a rapid expansion. Agency leaders have said the department hired more than 12,000 officers and employees in under a year, a recruitment push that critics warn could outrun vetting and oversight systems.
CBS News reported on congressional testimony in which ICE officials reiterated that hiring figure. At the same time, American Oversight points to internal emails and training slide decks from the FOIA release that raise fresh questions about how the agency is handling accountability and use-of-force instruction during this growth spurt.
Political Reaction and Oversight
Lawmakers and advocacy groups are seizing on the reports as a warning sign. Representatives John Garamendi and Lizzie Fletcher introduced a bill in February that would institute a hiring freeze at ICE, citing safety and training concerns as key reasons for tapping the brakes.
Details from Garamendi's office underscore the tension between rapidly adding personnel and maintaining rigorous qualification and training standards for those already in the field.
The training reports do not allege criminal wrongdoing, but they feed into broader concerns about everyday firearm safety inside the agency and whether oversight, reporting and transparency can keep up with a fast-growing force. Advocates say fully releasing the underlying records and clearly outlining concrete training and accountability measures would be a logical next step.
