Austin ICE shooting: New details released on man shot by ICE agents

AUSTIN, Texas - New details have been released about an ICE shooting in North Austin this past weekend. 

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot by an ICE agent, the family's attorney said.

ICE shooting in Austin: New details

Timeline:

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch is an immigration attorney representing the Garces Perez family. On Monday, she provided new details about what happened.

Lincoln-Goldfinch says the victim is Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. 

Lincoln-Goldfinch said Perez's wife received a call from her husband at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday saying he was shot and he was in pain. The call then ended.

The wife went to a hospital shortly after the call, but guards at the hospital said Wilber wasn't there. So, the wife went to the scene of the shooting and met up with Lincoln-Goldfinch.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said she and the wife went back to the hospital demanding to know where Wilber was. The guards repeatedly told them he was not there and pushed them outside to the lot across the street. 

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson then met with Lincoln-Goldfinch and Wilber's wife. Watson demanded hospital administrators to tell them what happened. Lincoln-Goldfinch said, four hours later, they found out Wilber was released from the hospital and sent to an ICE facility. 

They did not find Wilber until 10 a.m. on Monday.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said Wilber still has a bullet lodged in the back of his back. No one gave Wilber any pain medication or took the bullet out. 

After the shooting, Wilber was transported to an ICE facility and had no bed. He slept on the floor, she said.

Man shot by ICE in Austin describes the shooting

Local perspective:

Wilber told Lincoln-Goldfinch that he was driving for DoorDash on Sunday when an unmarked car sideswiped him. He did not know it was ICE. 

He told Lincoln-Goldfinch that he did a U-turn under the highway and was then sideswiped again. He then said the agents got out of the unmarked car and shot him in the back of the neck. They then pulled him from the car.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said there was no foot chase. However, ICE said there was a foot chase.

Lincoln-Goldfinch is now calling for the full body-camera footage from the incident. 

The other side:

Homeland Security Investigations confirms that Perez is from Venezuela and had entered the country illegally. They say Perez had a final order of removal.

Perez is reportedly in stable condition and in federal custody, pending removal.

What's next:

Rep. Joaquin Castro gave an update on the condition of Perez. 

Castro said Perez is at the South Texas ICE processing center and is now being taken to the hospital. Perez said he is still in pain and the bullet is still inside his body. He can’t move the left side of his body.

What happened in the ICE shooting on Sept. 20 in Austin?

The backstory:

It's still not clear exactly what happened during the law enforcement operation before the ICE agent opened fire in North Austin.

Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Rob Luckritz said emergency crews were notified of a reported shooting at about 12:56 p.m. in the 8000 block of Anderson Square.

Paramedics arrived within about 3 1/2 minutes and found an adult man with a gunshot wound. The man was transported to a local trauma center in serious but stable condition.

Luckritz said the patient was taken from the scene within nine minutes of EMS crews’ arrival.

APD Chief Lisa Davis said the shooting involved a federal agent and later confirmed she had been told the agent was with ICE.

Austin police were not involved in the shooting. Officers helped block roads and direct traffic near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square.

Davis said the Austin Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, which investigates officer-involved shootings, was at the scene.

She said she had not yet been briefed by federal authorities about the operation. Davis said she had heard there was a brief foot pursuit, but emphasized that the information was preliminary.

Local perspective:

Protests in response to the shooting started while FOX 7 Austin was on the scene and immigration agents deployed tear gas as protesters clashed with authorities. 

More protests continued throughout the night across the city.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said the city has a responsibility to investigate the shooting and provide answers to residents.

"I am very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE," Watson wrote in a post on X.

Watson said Austin police should be involved in an investigation that is "clear-eyed, as complete as possible, and independent."

At a City Hall news conference, Watson said he questioned whether an ICE-led investigation alone would be credible.

"Austinites have a right to know what happened," Watson said.

The Travis County District Attorney's office released this statement regarding the incident:

"A member of our community was shot by an ICE agent this afternoon. It is critical that all the facts come to light and that an independent investigation be completed. We are requesting that the Austin Police Department and our office, the Travis County District Attorney, be co-equal partners in the investigation. We further request cooperation from the federal government in giving us access to the evidence. As has occurred in other jurisdictions, it is possible that this incident included violations of state law."

What's next:

Homeland Security Investigations, with assistance from the FBI, says it is leading the investigation.

The Austin Police Department and the Texas Rangers are expected to also conduct their own investigations.

North AustinCrime and Public SafetyImmigration