Twice Deported, Twice Back. Then 31 Shell Casings in a Texas Neighborhood.
On the Saturday of Memorial Day weekend, deputies racing toward 911 calls in the Kings Colony neighborhood of New Caney, Texas, arrived to the sound of gunfire. By the time the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office SWAT team coaxed the shooter out of a barricaded house, investigators would recover roughly 31 shell casings and a 17-year-old with a gunshot wound. The man who surrendered, authorities say, should not have been in the country at all.
The accused is Juan Ayala-Montero, 60, a Mexican national whom federal records show was ordered removed in 1999, deported in 2000, and deported again in 2006 — and who, ICE says, re-entered the United States illegally a third time. He is charged in state court with felony deadly conduct and now faces a federal charge of being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.
Ayala-Montero is presumed innocent of the shooting charges, which are unresolved. But the removal record is documented, not alleged — and it frames the question this case forces: how does a man with a homicide-related conviction, deported twice, end up firing toward homes in a Texas subdivision? The names, dates, and the $80,000 bond below come from the sheriff, ICE, DHS, and court records — not from anyone’s talking points.
- 2prior deportations to Mexico — ordered removed Aug. 31, 1999; deported Aug. 30, 2000; removed again in 2006 — ICE / DHS
- 31shell casings recovered from the Kings Colony scene — Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
- 1victim — a 17-year-old struck by gunfire, treated and released — MCSO / ABC13
- $80,000bond on the state deadly-conduct charge, plus an ICE detainer — Montgomery County jail records / ICE
- 1983first illegal entry, per ICE — followed by convictions for homicide, assault, DUI, and trespass — ICE / KHOU
A neighborhood argument, a long gun, and a SWAT standoff. All on a Saturday afternoon.
According to the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, the episode began around 4:20 p.m. on Saturday in the 19000 block of Nottingham Street, when an argument between Ayala-Montero and a 17-year-old escalated. Investigators say Ayala-Montero went into his home, came back out with a rifle, and began firing — pointing the weapon at multiple people in the neighborhood, in multiple directions. Multiple 911 callers reported an active shooter.
Deputies who arrived heard gunfire, which triggered a larger response and the deployment of the sheriff’s SWAT team. Ayala-Montero retreated inside and barricaded himself; when SWAT arrived he came out and surrendered without further incident, with what authorities described as minor injuries. Investigators recovered roughly 31 fired shell casings and said evidence showed multiple rounds had been directed toward homes and residents. No law enforcement officer was hurt.
Only one person was struck: a 17-year-old male, hospitalized with a wound the sheriff’s office called non-life-threatening, then treated and released. In a wrinkle that underscores how chaotic the scene was, the teenage victim was later charged with making a false report to a peace officer after investigators said he gave law enforcement false information about what happened.
“After looking outside my kitchen window, I noticed the line of police cars everywhere.”
Jonathan Gonzalez, Kings Colony resident, to KHOU 11
Removed in 2000. Removed again in 2006. Back a third time. This part is on the record.
The shooting charges are unresolved and Ayala-Montero is presumed innocent of them. His immigration history, by contrast, is documented in federal records. ICE says he first entered the United States illegally — in Arizona — in 1983. An immigration judge ordered him removed on August 31, 1999, and he was deported to Mexico on August 30, 2000.
He returned. After a 2006 arrest by the Dallas Police Department, immigration officials encountered him again, took him into ICE custody, and removed him to Mexico the same day — his second deportation. Authorities allege he then illegally entered the country a third time, on an unknown date, before the May 2026 arrest. His criminal history, per ICE, includes convictions for homicide, assault, driving under the influence, and trespassing, plus a prior arrest for aggravated assault with a gun.
- →1983 — First illegal entry into the United States, in Arizona, per ICE.
- →Aug. 31, 1999 — An immigration judge orders Ayala-Montero removed.
- →Aug. 30, 2000 — First deportation to Mexico.
- →2006 — Arrested by Dallas Police; transferred to ICE custody and removed to Mexico the same day (second deportation).
- →Unknown date — Allegedly re-enters the U.S. illegally a third time.
- →May 23, 2026 — Kings Colony shooting; arrested May 24 in Montgomery County.
- →May 28, 2026 — ICE lodges an immigration detainer; federal firearm charge follows.
A state felony, a federal gun count, and an ICE detainer. Three separate holds.
On the state side, Montgomery County charged Ayala-Montero with felony deadly conduct — discharging a firearm — and jail records show him held on an $80,000 bond. Because he was previously deported and had no legal authority to re-enter, federal law makes it a crime for him to possess a firearm or ammunition at all. He has since been charged with being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm — the offense codified at 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(5).
ICE separately lodged an immigration detainer and a federal detainer against him after determining he was in the country unlawfully. The detainer is the mechanism meant to ensure that even if he posts bond or resolves the state case, he is transferred to federal custody rather than released back into the community. The arrest, ICE noted, came through the agency’s 287(g) partnership with local law enforcement.
ICE Houston: the arrest and immigration detainer placed on this violent criminal illegal alien — twice deported and back in the country illegally — is another example of the public-safety impact of the 287(g) program in local communities. (Paraphrased; see ICE release in Sources.)
DHS: this defendant was removed from the United States twice and came back anyway. Under this administration, criminal illegal aliens who re-enter and endanger American communities will be detained and prosecuted — no more catch and release. (Paraphrased; see DHS release in Sources.)
The local catch worked. The system that let him return did not. Both belong in the story.
This site’s rule is to name the officials whose decisions the facts describe. Here, the local response cuts in the administration’s favor: a 287(g)-credited arrest and an immigration detainer are exactly the enforcement chain the current policy is built around. The failure the case exposes is the older one — a man removed twice who managed to re-enter and live in a Texas subdivision long enough to allegedly open fire in it.
- Sheriff Wesley Doolittle (R)Montgomery County SheriffA former Texas Ranger sworn in after the 2024 election. His office made the arrest, ran the SWAT response, and participates in ICE's 287(g) program that flagged Ayala-Montero's immigration status.
- Gabriel MartinezActing Field Office Director, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, HoustonCredited the 287(g) partnership for the arrest and detainer, calling it an example of the program's positive public-safety impact in local communities.
- Governor Greg Abbott (R-TX)Governor of TexasHas built his record on border enforcement and on operations in the same Colony Ridge / New Caney area of east Montgomery County, framing re-entry by deported criminals as the core failure his programs target.
- Secretary Markwayne Mullin (R)U.S. Secretary of Homeland SecuritySworn in March 2026 after Kristi Noem was moved to a special-envoy role; heads the department whose ICE component lodged the detainer and publicized the removal history, presenting the case as a model of interior enforcement against previously deported aliens.
A deportation is only as good as the border it’s enforced behind. Twice removed, twice undone.
The through-line of this case is illegal re-entry. Deporting a criminal alien is a one-time act; keeping that person out is a continuous one. Ayala-Montero was, on the government’s own record, removed in 2000 and again in 2006 — and each removal was ultimately reversed by a man simply walking back across a border he was barred from crossing. Illegal re-entry after removal is itself a federal felony under 8 U.S.C. § 1326, carrying steeper penalties when the removed alien has a prior aggravated felony.
That is the accountability frame this beat is built for. A neighborhood in New Caney absorbed the cost of a removal system that worked on paper twice and failed in practice twice: a 17-year-old shot, dozens of rounds fired toward occupied homes, and a SWAT standoff — all of it traceable to a man who, by federal records, was supposed to be in Mexico. The detainer now in place is the system trying to make the third removal stick.
“He let out shots on everybody.”
Neighbor account of the Kings Colony gunfire, via KHOU 11
Criminal illegal aliens who were already deported keep coming back and committing violent crimes against Americans. Under our Administration, we are finding them, arresting them, and removing them — for good. No more catch and release.
Paraphrased commentary · not a verbatim post
Paraphrased; representative of the President's repeated public posts on previously deported criminal aliens.
A previously deported illegal alien — removed from the U.S. twice — was charged after a Memorial Day weekend shooting in Texas. ICE has lodged a detainer. Re-entry after removal is a federal crime, and we will prosecute it.
Paraphrased commentary · not a verbatim post
Paraphrased from the DHS release of May 28, 2026; see Sources.
What is alleged, what is documented, and what comes next. We keep the two straight.
Two categories of fact run through this story, and conflating them would be a mistake. The shooting allegations — that Ayala-Montero fired toward homes and struck a teenager — are charges, not convictions. He is presumed innocent of the deadly-conduct and federal firearm counts until a court resolves them, and the teenage victim’s own false-report charge is a reminder that early accounts of chaotic scenes can shift.
The immigration history is the other category: documented in federal records, not in dispute. Two removal orders, two deportations, and an alleged third illegal re-entry are matters of record cited by ICE and DHS. We will update this page as the criminal case moves through Montgomery County and federal court — including any change to the charges, the bond, or the detainer. The standard is the same one the site applies everywhere: airtight facts, named officials, primary sources, and no thumb on the scale.
