ICE Agent Shoots Venezuelan Man in Austin as Officials Demand Independent Investigation

A federal immigration officer shot and wounded a 28-year-old man during an enforcement operation in Austin, prompting demands for body-camera footage, independent oversight and answers about what happened before the gunfire.

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a 28-year-old Venezuelan man in North Austin on Sunday, prompting immediate demands for transparency from city leaders and members of Congress.

Austin officials said Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot once in the torso shortly before 1 p.m. and taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition.

Garces Perez was later released from the hospital into federal custody, according to his attorney, while the Department of Homeland Security said he remained stable and was pending removal.

The shooting followed what Texas authorities described as a vehicle pursuit involving a blue Toyota Corolla, although many details about the encounter and the officer’s decision to fire remain unclear.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said city officers were not involved in the federal operation or shooting, but the department’s special investigations unit responded to the scene afterward.

The Texas Department of Public Safety said ICE requested assistance around 12:50 p.m., but state troopers arrived only after the shooting had already taken place.

Homeland Security said Garces Perez had entered the United States illegally and had a final order of removal, a claim his attorney said she could not independently confirm.

Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez had been working on a DoorDash delivery when the encounter occurred and that his family initially struggled to obtain information about his condition and location.

DoorDash confirmed to CBS News that Garces Perez was in the process of making a delivery and said the company was reviewing the circumstances surrounding the incident.

Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat whose district includes parts of Austin, demanded the immediate release of body-camera footage and called for a full, independent investigation into the shooting.

Casar also asked federal officials to preserve all available evidence and share it with local and state investigators, the DHS inspector general and other authorities with potential jurisdiction.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson separately argued that ICE should not investigate the shooting by itself and said Austin police should participate to provide independent scrutiny and greater public confidence.

The Travis County District Attorney’s Office made a similar request, asking that local prosecutors and Austin police become co-equal partners and receive access to evidence held by federal authorities.

Federal officials said Homeland Security Investigations would lead the officer-involved shooting investigation with assistance from the FBI, an arrangement drawing attention because HSI is itself a component of ICE.

CBS News reported that federal investigative practices involving shootings by immigration officers have shifted, with HSI taking a larger role while the FBI provides assistance in some cases.

Photographs and video from the scene showed a damaged blue Toyota Corolla with apparent bullet holes, along with a large federal, state and local law-enforcement presence beneath an overpass.

Roughly one hundred protesters gathered near the scene, according to the Associated Press, and authorities later deployed non-lethal weapons as tensions increased around the demonstration.

The shooting comes during a major expansion of federal immigration enforcement, with ICE recording more than 50,000 arrests per month in July and August, according to the Associated Press.

It also follows other shootings involving federal immigration officers this year, including a fatal July shooting in Houston and another separate ICE shooting in Maine.

Several central facts remain unresolved, including what immediately preceded the gunfire, whether body-camera footage exists, and whether local investigators will receive full access to federal evidence and witnesses.