ICE officer shoots and injures man in Austin: Police
Man wounded in ICE-related shooting in North Austin
Tyunews.com – A man was hospitalized after an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot him during an operation in North Austin on Sunday, an episode that drew protesters to the area and sharp criticism from city leaders.
The injured man has been identified by his attorneys as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. He suffered a gunshot wound to the torso and was taken to a local hospital, where officials said he was in serious but stable condition.
The shooting happened near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square on Sunday afternoon. A blue Toyota Corolla remained at the scene with bullet holes and visible damage along its passenger-side doors.
Questions over the operation and investigation
Austin police said an ICE officer fired the weapon. The Texas Department of Public Safety said it had been asked to assist with a vehicle pursuit, but the person had already been shot when state personnel arrived. DPS rangers are working with Austin police on the investigation.
Law-enforcement sources described the incident as part of a targeted ICE operation. They said Perez is believed to be a Venezuelan national who is in the United States without legal status and has a final order of removal. Those sources also said he was believed to have been the intended subject of the operation.
Austin Councilmember Mike Siegel said city police were not allowed to conduct their own crime-scene investigation, describing the location as being controlled by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations and the Texas Department of Public Safety.
“The crime scene was entirely controlled by ICE ... HSI, Homeland Security Investigations, as well as state police, Department of Public Safety, and so the city police were not being permitted to conduct a crime scene investigation,” Siegel said.
Siegel said a federal immigration officer fired at least two shots during the confrontation. He also said an ICE Ford Expedition struck the side of the blue Toyota sedan. Further details about the events leading up to the gunfire have not been publicly established.
Video shows aftermath of gunfire
Witness video taken shortly after the shooting shows a man seated and hunched over in the driver’s seat of a blue sedan while ICE officers surround the vehicle. In Spanish, the man can be heard saying he was shot because he did not “brake.”
Later in the footage, officers place the man in handcuffs and cut away his shirt, revealing what appears to be a gunshot wound on his back. The video documents the immediate aftermath but does not show the shooting itself or the full sequence that preceded it.
The distinction matters as investigators assess the encounter: images and video can provide important evidence of what happened after force was used, while the circumstances before the shot are central to determining why it was fired and whether agency procedures were followed.
Attorneys say Perez was moved into ICE custody
Perez’s lawyers at Lincoln-Goldfinch Law said hospital personnel told them he had been transferred into ICE custody after the shooting. The firm said his wife had not received information from ICE about his medical condition and had not spoken with him.
“We’ve not heard from ICE. No one has updated [his wife] about his care or how he is doing, and she has not spoken to him yet. So, we will be pursuing justice,” the law firm said.
The attorney statement raises questions about access to medical updates and communication with family after a person is taken into immigration custody following an injury. ICE had not publicly provided a response at the time of the statements described by local officials and the legal team.
Mayor condemns shooting
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson reacted angrily to the incident, saying residents deserve an explanation and should be able to feel secure in their neighborhoods.
“While I’m angry and disappointed, I’m not surprised. This has happened in other cities. With the rogue nature of ICE and the chaos we’re seeing fomented by ICE, there’s no reason to be surprised. Austinites have a right to know what happened and they have a right to feel safe in their community,” Watson wrote on X.
The mayor also said he was “very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE.”
People gathered near the scene to protest after the shooting. The response reflects broader local concern about how federal immigration enforcement actions unfold in public spaces, particularly when they involve vehicle stops, pursuits or the use of deadly force.
For Austin residents, the investigation will likely focus on several unanswered issues: what prompted the attempted stop or pursuit, what occurred between the vehicles, whether warnings were given, and what threat the officer believed existed when shots were fired. Authorities have not released a complete public account addressing those questions.
The case also involves overlapping jurisdictions. Federal immigration agencies, state authorities and city police each have different roles, making it important for investigators to clarify who controlled the scene, who gathered evidence and how findings will be communicated to the public.
Perez remained the central figure in an investigation that was still developing Sunday, while his attorneys sought information about his condition and custody status. Local officials continued to call for transparency over an encounter that left a man seriously injured on a North Austin street.
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