Protest Erupts After ICE Officer Shoots Venezuelan Man During Austin Traffic Stop

A federal immigration operation in Austin, Texas, took a dramatic turn when an ICE officer shot and wounded a man on the city’s north side.

Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez, a Venezuelan man, was shot during a traffic stop on Sunday, September 20, before being hospitalized and later transferred to an ICE detention center, according to an Associated Press report on Monday, September 21.

Garcés Perez, 28, was making a DoorDash delivery before the shooting, a spokesperson for his immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said, per the outlet.

According to Austin officials, Garcés Perez was shot once in the torso and was initially hospitalized in serious but stable condition, NBC News reported. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis explained, per the Associated Press, that the shooting followed a traffic stop and that local police were not involved.

NBC News reported the Texas Department of Public Safety said that ICE had requested assistance with a vehicle pursuit involving a blue Toyota Corolla shortly before the shooting. Per DPS spokesperson Sheridan Nolen, the shooting occurred before state troopers arrived.

“Once they arrived, DPS Troopers immediately began assisting partner law enforcement agencies in performing medical treatment on the driver of the Toyota Corolla,” Nolen said, per the report.

Video verified by NBC News captured tires screeching before a person got out of a dark-colored SUV and approached a blue sedan. At least three gunshots could be heard as the sedan slowly moved forward, according to the outlet.

Per the Associated Press, the Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said Garcés Perez was in the country illegally and “had a final order of removal.” DHS has not publicly said what prompted the officer to open fire.

Garcés Perez’s representatives disputed the government’s description of his immigration status. His attorney’s spokesperson, Fabiana Meléndez Ruiz, explained, per the outlet, that Garcés Perez is an asylum seeker who entered the United States through a parole program and has no criminal history.

“Regardless of his status, the use of force was unwarranted,” Ruiz said, the outlet reported. “As far as we understand, he was here legally.”

Per the report, after being released from the hospital, Garcés Perez was taken to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles southwest of Austin. Ruiz said Lincoln-Goldfinch later spoke to him by phone. He told his attorney that a bullet was still lodged in his back, he had not been given pain medication and he was being interrogated.

Garcés Perez’s wife and attorney initially had trouble finding out what happened to him after the shooting. The Associated Press reported that hospital attorneys informed them around 6 p.m. Sunday that he had been discharged about 90 minutes earlier. ICE had not confirmed his whereabouts to Lincoln-Goldfinch, who used legal databases and other resources to determine where he was being held.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson wants local police involved in the investigation and argued that ICE should not investigate the incident on its own, per the report.

About 100 protesters gathered near the shooting scene within an hour of the incident, with demonstrators remaining there into the night, The Guardian reported. State and local law enforcement formed a barrier near federal agents, and officers used chemical agents as they attempted to disperse the crowd; several protesters were arrested, per the report.

The investigation remains ongoing.