Venezuelan delivery driver shot by ICE agent during Austin foot pursuit, officials demand investigation

A Venezuelan national was shot by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Austin, Texas, and taken into custody, local officials said, prompting calls for an independent investigation.

What happened

Local officials said the man, identified by his lawyer as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez of Venezuela, suffered a single gunshot wound to the torso during a foot pursuit and was rushed to hospital in stable but serious condition. The lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said on X that Garces Perez was shot “by ICE in Austin during a DoorDash delivery this afternoon.”

Officials demand answers

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said on X he was “very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE,” and called for an investigation. Watson described information about the incident as “very preliminary” and said local law enforcement should be involved in elements of the inquiry.

Congressman Greg Casar told reporters that “ICE has not been truthful in shootings in other cities” and cited a January shooting of Renee Goode in Minneapolis in which video footage, he said, belied ICE accounts. Casar called for the release of body camera footage of Sunday’s incident.

Custody and deportation concerns

Casar later said Garces Perez had been “taken out of the hospital and into ICE custody,” and warned that if ICE deported him “the key witness to their shooting disappears.” Casar said: “He must not be removed from this country, and he must receive proper medical care.” Lincoln-Goldfinch also said her client was placed “into custody, but we still don’t know his location.”

Agency response and local reaction

ICE has not released information about the incident, according to the reporting. Video posted by local news outlets to social media showed several dozen people protesting at the site of the alleged shooting.

Context: heightened ICE operations and past incidents

Mayor Watson said the shooting occurred amid a “significant increase, almost overnight” of ICE operations in Austin. The report noted ICE is tasked with enforcing a broader administration crackdown on immigration.

The article referenced previous controversies involving ICE, including the January shooting of Renee Goode in Minneapolis and the March 2025 shooting of Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old shot by ICE that the Texas Tribune reported was the first known killing by immigration agents of an American in the administration’s second term.

Department of Homeland Security figures cited in the report showed that nearly 51,000 undocumented migrants were arrested in the United States in August.

“I am very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE,” Mayor Kirk Watson