ICE officer shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas, officials say

A man was shot once in the torso by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a traffic stop on Austin’s north side on Sunday, and remains hospitalized in serious but stable condition, city officials said. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news briefing that local officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, and that the department’s special investigations unit was at the scene.

An immigration attorney representing the man’s family identified him as 28-year-old Venezuelan Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said in a social media video that she believed he had no criminal history and no final removal order, though she later told the Associated Press she did not know his current immigration status. The family has reported difficulty obtaining information from the hospital about his condition and location.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said he wants the city police department to take part in the investigation so there are “clear, third-party eyes” on the process, and he said it would be inappropriate for ICE to conduct the probe alone. Watson also said he did not know whether the involved federal agent remained in the city and expressed the hope that an agent involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the state.

A substantial law enforcement presence remained at the shooting location, where roughly 100 protesters gathered, some confronting officers with riot shields and others holding signs criticizing ICE. US Representative Greg Casar called for transparency in the investigation and urged a pause to increased ICE activity in the city. The shooting follows a nationwide rise in ICE enforcement this summer; ICE reported historically high monthly arrest totals in July and August, and earlier this month an ICE officer fatally shot a man in Houston after a pursuit.