ress when they observed a white van with an individual who resembled the target. Officers then initiated the vehicle stop,  the statement reads.

During the surveillance weeks prior to the shooting, DHS says officers noted two white vans on the property.

DHS says officers had not been issued body cameras

In a separate statement released Thursday, DHS said the officers involved had not yet received their body-worn cameras and blamed government shutdowns they say delayed funding for that equipment.

 The officers involved in the incident in Houston had not been issued body-worn cameras due to back-to-back Democrat shutdowns,  DHS said.  The process of purchasing and issuing body-worn cameras to all of our ICE field offices was interrupted by the Democrats multiple government shutdowns. Body cameras have been deployed to more than half the field offices with the remaining half to receive them in the next 60 days. 

The department said equipping ICE officers with body cameras has been a priority and cited what it described as a sharp increase in assaults on agents.

 Providing our ICE law enforcement officers with body cameras has been a priority for DHS -- especially as our officers are facing a more than 1,300% increase in assaults against them,  the agency said.  Now thanks to the Secure America Act, ICE has historic funding to provide law enforcement with the resources they need, including body cameras. 

The absence of body camera footage means investigators will instead rely on witness statements, physical evidence and other available video, if any exists, to reconstruct what happened.

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