Shooter Was ALREADY Wanted — What Cops Caught Him With

Prison cell door with key and chain in lock — Photo: stellamc / Shutterstock

An off-duty FBI agent shot and killed a man the FBI says was firing a gun into a group of people at a Chicago homeless camp, and the bureau says the man had been caught at the border in 2023 and released.

Story Highlights

An off-duty FBI agent killed Oscar D. Isaya-Corrales, 27, in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood on Monday evening, October 26.
The FBI says the agent saw him firing into “a group of innocent people” and acted “to stop the ongoing threat.”
The FBI says the Venezuelan man was taken into custody at the border in 2023 and then released.
Police found a handgun under the e-bike he had been riding, according to a police report.
The local alderman wants state and county officials to investigate, not the FBI itself.
In May, Chicago police arrested him on a charge of stealing five necklaces from a downtown Nordstrom store, while he carried a Guatemalan passport police say belonged to someone else. He was released, missed his court date, and a warrant was issued June 1.

Agent Stops Gunfire at Homeless Camp

The shooting happened around 5:30 p.m. on Monday, October 26, near West 18th Street and South Union Avenue in Pilsen, a neighborhood on the city’s Lower West Side. The FBI says the agent was driving home alone from work in a bureau vehicle when he saw a man firing a gun into a group of people at a homeless camp near the expressway. The bureau says the agent stepped in to stop him. “In an effort to stop the ongoing threat, the agent engaged with the individual,” the FBI said.

At least two shots were fired before the agent stepped in, according to reports. One neighbor, who asked not to be named, said he heard a loud bang and then more gunfire. “We hit the deck. We got down,” he said. He then saw an officer in an unmarked car get behind his car with his gun drawn. Chicago police answered an officer-in-distress call and found the 41-year-old agent aiming at the wounded man. Police found a handgun under the e-bike the man had been riding, according to a police report. No one else was reported hurt, and the agent was not injured.

The Man Who Was Killed

The Cook County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the man as Oscar D. Isaya-Corrales, 27, who also went by Oscar Corrales. He was shot in both legs, the chest and the right side, and he died at Stroger Hospital less than an hour later. The medical examiner ruled the death a homicide. That is a medical term that means one person’s actions caused another person’s death. It does not decide whether the shooting was lawful.

Police have not released a motive for why the man was firing. Records show he was arrested in May on a charge of stealing five necklaces from a Nordstrom store downtown. He carried a Guatemalan passport that police say belonged to someone else. He was released, missed his court date, and a warrant was issued June 1. The manager of a Chicago shelter said he stayed there from January to March and again for a few weeks in May.

Caught at the Border and Released

The FBI says Isaya-Corrales was a Venezuelan living in the country without legal status. The bureau says he was taken into custody at the border in 2023, during the Biden administration, and later released. Federal sources say that happened in October 2023. Federal sources also say he was later arrested in California and let go even though immigration officers had filed a detainer. A detainer is a request from ICE, the federal immigration agency, asking a local jail to hold someone so ICE can pick him up.

Chicago and Cook County do not honor ICE detainers, according to reports. Critics of “catch and release,” the practice of letting people go into the country while their immigration cases wait in court, say this case shows the danger of that system. They argue that people who are released are often never tracked or removed.

Call for Outside Review

Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, the City Council member who represents the area, has called for an independent investigation. The FBI’s Inspection Division, its internal review office, is looking into the shooting, which is FBI policy. Sigcho-Lopez said the FBI “cannot, under any circumstances, conduct a thorough, credible investigation of itself.” He wants the Illinois attorney general and the Cook County state’s attorney to take it on, and he asked Chicago police to save body-camera video and witness statements.

“The FBI takes all shooting incidents involving our agents or task force members seriously,” the bureau said. It said it had no further details to give because the review is ongoing. The agent has not been named.