A week later: What we do and don’t know about the Black Forest ICE raid
Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette
The clinking and clanking of construction work reverberated throughout a Black Forest housing development Thursday, a week after federal agents flooded the neighborhood streets to detain two individuals suspected to be illegal immigrants.
The Timber Ridge housing development was raided by ICE operatives the morning of July 31. During the operation, two suspects allegedly attempted to drive into a federal agent, prompting an officer to fire three shots into the vehicle before it fled.
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The Gazette has constructed a timeline of events with information on what we know and don’t know about the incident.
The following information has been pieced together through interviews with residents and construction workers near the Timber Ridge ICE operation, as well as statements from officials and previous reporting.
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Thursday, July 31 – Day of Black Forest ICE operation
A police scanner reported a call for shots fired in the 8300 block of David Rudabaugh Drive, located in Timber Ridge, around 9:42 a.m., according to real-time event and risk detection software Dataminr.
“Homeland Security, that was on scene, fired three shots at a fleeing suspect. Suspect vehicle is a dark green Dodge Ram,” the dispatcher says.
A shelter-in-place order was issued in Black Forest due to law enforcement activity in the area. The El Paso County Sheriff’s Office directed the Tribune to ICE officials when asked what was going on.
A shelter-in-place order was issued by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office around 10:30 a.m. for a quarter-mile radius in the 9900 block of Burgess Road between Windmill and Greentree roads in a Black Forest neighborhood, located about three miles away from the call for shots fired.
At 3 p.m., ICE officials issued a statement saying the two suspects were on the run in the area.
A woman in the neighborhood, who asked for anonymity for safety reasons, told The Gazette that the suspects’ vehicle was abandoned right outside her home on Burgess Road and had three bullet holes at the bed of the truck.
“My first reaction was that it was an accident. The door was open, but then when I went to the road to see how I could help, there was nobody there, and then I saw a black truck up on the road, which was an ICE agent. And that’s how it all started,” the woman said.
An FBI agent gets ready for an operation to try to capture two fugitives who tried to ram ICE agents in Black Forest on Thursday.
What ensued was law enforcement from several agencies, including ICE and the FBI, pouring into the area, and one of the suspects, Francisco Zapata-Pacheco, being arrested on her property.
“They had it all surrounded,” the woman said as she gestured around her property. “(They) were trying to locate what they could. Canine was even here. They had drones. They had airplanes.”
Gazette reporters saw at least two dozen unmarked vehicles on Burgess Road and deputies from the sheriff’s office blocking off the area the day of the incident.
According to the woman, law enforcement was at her property for most of the day, not wrapping up until 9 p.m. , three hours after the shelter-in-place order was lifted.
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Friday, Aug. 1 – The day after
ICE issued a statement on Zapata-Pacheco’s arrest in the afternoon, stating he was detained around 2 p.m. July 31 and is cooperating with investigators while in ICE custody, pending immigration and criminal proceedings. Immigration records show Zapata-Pacheco is in a Denver ICE facility.
The immigration agency did not respond when asked why it released a statement saying the two suspects were on the run despite knowing one was in custody.
In the statement, ICE named the other suspect, Jose Mendez-Chavez, who is still at large. The agency alleges that he is a Mexican immigrant in the country who has illegally re-entered six times and has prior convictions for child abuse and domestic violence.
Information on Zapata-Pacheco’s immigration status or any criminal charges has not yet been released.
Tom Homan, President Donald Trump’s border czar, told CBS in July that ICE is focused on public and national security threats.
“When and if we find (criminals), many times they’re with others. Others that are in the United States illegally but not a criminal target – well, they’re coming too,” he said.
Days since – Housing development has remained quiet
Since the operation, the Timber Ridge housing development has been quiet.
It’s a quiet scene out in Black Forest Friday morning where two individuals allegedly attempted to ram their vehicle into law enforcement officials during an ICE operation a week ago. No injuries were reported, but ICE officials say three shots were fired by an officer. pic.twitter.com/5jpb0BqkSW
— Mack Bodell (@mackenziebodell) August 8, 2025
Music and signs of life used to be present in the neighborhood, but a worker installing internet for residents in the area said all of that has died down since the raid. He also stated he’s seen fewer construction workers around.
A construction worker told The Gazette on Thursday that she heard five or six people were detained during the incident.
According to Gazette news partner KOAA, once ICE officers arrived, construction workers from different job sites began running.
A resident, 16-year-old Elizabeth Guerrero, said there was a video given to her by her uncle that showed a worker at the site being detained while others ran off, according to previous Gazette reporting.
“It’s scary knowing all of this (happened),” Guerrero said the day of the raid.
It’s unknown why the housing development was targeted or if multiple men were targeted by immigration officials.
ICE has not confirmed or denied if there were other arrests made during the Black Forest operation, despite being asked on multiple occasions. The agency has also not confirmed whether Mendez-Chavez is still on the loose.
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FBI Denver is investigating the alleged assault on the federal officer, a spokesperson from the agency told The Gazette.
The spokesperson also said that the Department of Homeland Security’s Office of Inspector General would determine whether or not the federal agent involved in the shooting lawfully fired the weapon.
The DHS Office of Inspector General did not respond to The Gazette’s request for comment on the investigation and what agency the involved officer was from.
Meanwhile on Thursday, the Drug Enforcement Administration executed two search warrants at an apartment complex in eastern Colorado Springs that was allegedly being used to distribute drugs by Mexican cartel members, the agency said. Five were arrested for “immigration violations” and have been transferred to ICE to an unknown location.
Gazette reporter Mackenzie Bodell contributed to this article.
