ICE officer shoots and injures delivery driver in Austin
A man was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, according to the Austin Police Department, prompting protests at the scene and backlash from local officials.
He was delivering for DoorDash at the time of the encounter with ICE, his lawyer and the delivery platform confirmed to ABC News.
The man was identified by his lawyers as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. He was taken to a local hospital with a gunshot wound to the torso, where he was in serious but stable condition, officials said during a press conference.
He has allegedly been released from the hospital and is in ICE custody at an unknown location, his lawyer's office said.
In a video statement released on social media Monday morning, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an immigration attorney representing Garces Perez's family, said neither she nor his wife has received information about his condition or whereabouts.
"He was discharged from the hospital, four hours after he was shot, into ICE custody,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said, in part. "I have not received any updates from ICE about his status or his condition and neither has his wife. She slept with her phone underneath her pillow all night and is desperate for information."
In her video statement, Lincoln-Goldfinch requested that ICE officials contact her.
"ICE needs to get in touch with me, Wilber's lawyer, today to let me know how he is doing,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said. "Where is he? What is his condition? Is he receiving proper medical care? That needs to occur today."
The Department of Homeland Security issued a statement on social media Sunday, saying, "Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is leading the investigation into the officer involved shooting of an illegal alien from Venezuela, who illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal, during a law enforcement operation today in Austin, TX."
"The illegal alien’s condition is stable, and he is in federal custody pending removal," the statement added. "This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information becomes available."
ABC News has reached out to ICE for additional comment.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said in a statement he is "very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE."
"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," he wrote on X.
A video obtained by ABC News shows the moments after the man was shot. Taken by a witness and provided to a local city councilmember, the video shows him sitting hunched over in the driver's seat of a blue sedan as ICE officers surround the car.
The man can be heard saying in Spanish that he was shot because he did not "brake." Later in the video, the man is seen handcuffed while officers cut his shirt, exposing a gunshot wound on his back.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News the shooting occurred during a targeted ICE operation and the person shot is believed to be a Venezuelan national illegally in the United States with a final order of removal, and that he is believed to be the target of the operation.
ICE officials were conducting license plate checks to carry out their enforcement operations when they had a positive match on the vehicle registered to Garces Perez, who had an order to be deported, a law enforcement source also told ABC News. A brief exchange with officers occurred and it is believed Garces Perez attempted to flee the scene, according to law enforcement sources, who said Garces Perez was shot shortly after allegedly fleeing.
The Department of Homeland Security has not given a full accounting of what occurred on Sunday and has not said whether the officers were wearing body-worn cameras during the incident.
The incident occurred in North Austin near the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square Sunday afternoon, where a blue Toyota Corolla was at the scene with bullet holes and damage to the passenger-side doors, according to ABC News' Austin affiliate KVUE.
The Texas Department of Public Safety said in a statement that they were called to help with a pursuit involving a vehicle, but when they arrived at the scene, a person had already been shot. Texas DPS rangers are assisting Austin PD with the investigation.
An Austin city councilmember told ABC News that city police were not permitted to conduct a crime scene investigation.
"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,” Austin Councilmember Mike Siegel told ABC News.
Siegel said that a federal immigration officer fired “at least two shots” at an individual on Sunday afternoon.
“An ICE Ford Expedition rammed into the side of a blue Toyota sedan ... an ICE officer got out of the vehicle and fired multiple shots, at least two of which were visible to me as bullet holes in the rear passenger window,” he said.
The councilmember told ABC News that he is working with city officials to ensure that the ICE officer who allegedly shot the individual is not allowed to leave Texas.
