The man who was killed by a passing vehicle while fleeing Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents in Norfolk Thursday morning was in the country illegally, according to a senior Department of Homeland Security official.
Jose Castro-Rivera, 25, was in a vehicle with three others when they were stopped by ICE on Interstate 264 near the Military Highway interchange. ICE did not specify what crime the four were suspected of committing prior to being pulled over but described it as a “targeted, intelligence-based immigration enforcement operation.”
The officers began to detain them at which point, the DHS official said in an email, Castro-Rivera “resisted heavily” and ran into the highway where he was struck by a passing pickup.
An ICE officer attempted CPR on Castro-Rivera, who died at the scene, according to DHS.
In the same email, responding to a request for information about Castro-Rivera’s death, the unnamed senior DHS official directed blame at others.
“The death of this illegal alien is a direct result of every politician, activist and reporter who continue to spread propaganda and misinformation about ICE’s mission and ways to avoid detention, that has emboldened illegal aliens to resist our federal law enforcement officers,” the statement read. “Sadly, this is the tragic result of such resistance. This horrendous outcome could have been prevented had Castro-Rivera complied with our officers.”
The driver of the pickup that struck Castro-Rivera was not injured and is cooperating with the Virginia State Police’s investigation.
Gavin Stone, 757-712-4806, gavin.stone@virginiamedia.com
https://www.pilotonline.com/2025/10/24/ice-identifies-man-killed-264/

