Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, remains in serious but stable condition after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot him once in the torso during a brief foot pursuit in northern Austin on Sunday. The incident exploded into a political firestorm within hours, drawing roughly 100 protesters to the scene and prompting immediate calls for transparency from local leadership. A dark blue Toyota Corolla, riddled with what appeared to be bullet holes on the passenger side, sat abandoned near the site before being towed away.
City leadership did not mince words. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson described himself as “very angry and extremely disappointed,” noting a “significant increase, almost overnight” in ICE operations within city limits. He bluntly stated that he would not trust ICE to investigate itself. “The credibility of ICE doing some form of investigation just by itself and excluding others would not be appropriate,” Watson said, explicitly requesting that Austin Police and local prosecutors join the inquiry. Police Chief Lisa Davis confirmed the shooting followed a traffic stop but emphasized that local officers were not involved in the act, only in the subsequent investigation.
Federal representatives have yet to provide a detailed account. The Department of Homeland Security, which supervises ICE, did not immediately comment on the shooting or the agent’s actions. This silence contrasts sharply with the rapid response from local officials. US Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat representing parts of Austin, blasted the incident on social media, calling it a “horror” that had come to the city. He sent a formal letter to DHS demanding an immediate independent probe, the release of all body-camera footage, and accountability for the agent involved.
The victim’s legal team is fighting for clarity. Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch, who identified the victim, stated she believed Garces Perez had no criminal history or final order of removal, though she later clarified she did not know his specific immigration status. Complicating matters, Goldfinch revealed that Garces Perez’s wife was informed he had been released into ICE custody hours after the shooting. It remains unclear whether he is still at the hospital or has been transferred to a federal detention facility.
This incident lands in the middle of a volatile stretch for federal immigration enforcement. It follows the July shooting of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston and the wounding of 25-year-old Colombian Johan Sebastián in Maine. The Travis County district attorney’s office has formally requested access to all evidence held by federal authorities. For now, the ball is in DHS’s court to decide whether to share the footage or face a coordinated legal and political challenge from local prosecutors and city officials.