An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer allegedly shot and wounded an illegal immigrant from Venezuela during a law enforcement operation on Sept. 20 in Austin, Texas, according to city officials.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times that the individual entered the country illegally under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal. The agency did not disclose information about the events that led up to the shooting.
“There is not a lot of facts that I can give you at this point,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said during a news conference on Sept. 20.
“What I can tell you is [the] Austin Police Department Special Investigation Unit, who investigates our officer-involved shootings, is on the scene, and I have spoken to Texas Rangers who will be part of that investigations and will be working side by side in this investigation as well.”
Davis said no Austin Police Department officers were involved in the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop.
The DHS said Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are leading an investigation into the incident, adding that the Venezuelan man is in stable condition.
“He is in federal custody pending removal,” the agency wrote. “This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information becomes available.”
The Texas Department of Public Safety said it received a request from ICE for assistance in a vehicle pursuit around 12:50 p.m. By the time the Texas troopers arrived, the shooting had already taken place, the department said in a statement Sunday evening.
The shooting victim, identified by an immigration attorney as 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, was shot in the torso and taken to the hospital. Officials said he was in serious but stable condition.
Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, who is representing the man’s family, said she did not know Garces Perez’s current immigration status. She said the hospital’s attorney informed his wife just before 7 p.m. that he had been released into ICE custody a few hours earlier.
The family has struggled to get information from the hospital about his location, Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
The ICE officer’s name has also not been revealed.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said his city’s police department should take part in the investigation to keep ICE accountable. They would add “clear, third-party eyes” to the review process, he said.
“I am very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE,” Watson wrote on X.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson speaks during a news conference at Austin City Hall after a federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, on Sept. 20, 2026. (Sara Diggins/The San Antonio Express-News via AP)
“The horror has come to our city: ICE has shot a person in Austin this morning,” Casar wrote in an X post on Sept. 20. “As the facts emerge, I am demanding a full, independent investigation, immediate release of the body camera footage, and accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.”
Casar accused ICE officers of “terrorizing our country for far too long.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
