(The Center Square) – Facing charges in a mass shooting in Chicago, suspected Tren de Aragua gang member Ricardo Padillia-Granadillo of Venezuela was arrested with 10 others in North Carolina last week in one of the latest examples of policy change from President Donald Trump and his administration.
Padillia-Granadillo came into the country near El Paso, Texas, on Oct. 1, 2022, and under Biden administration policy was encountered by U.S. Border Patrol and allowed to stay in the country on parole with a promise to appear for an immigration appointment. He didn’t.
For failing to appear on Sept. 12, a U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas issued an arrest warrant. The search involving U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement, Border Patrol, Customs and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations and the U.S. Marshals Service ended with the suspect taken into custody from a Raleigh residence on Saturday.
Padillia-Granadillo was in possession of a handgun and ammunition. Ten others he was with, all in the country illegally according to ICE, were also arrested.
The release from American lawmen did not detail in which Chicago shooting Padillia-Granadillo is a suspect. While there’s no definition of mass shooting, generally accepted including by Gun Violence Archive is it happens if four or more people excluding the perpetrator is shot in one location at one time.
The Chicago Tribune reported earlier this year 573 homicides in 2024, down from 617 a year earlier and 797 in 2021. City of Chicago was cited as the source. A Google search of “Chicago mass shooting” has many links.
Padillia-Granadillo was a long way from his homeland when caught. El Paso is about 1,850 miles from Raleigh; a border town of Venezuela in South America – such as San Cristobal – would be a flight of more than 12 hours from El Paso.