An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during a traffic stop on Austin’s north side on Sunday afternoon, an incident that drew about a hundred protesters and renewed demands for scrutiny of federal immigration operations in the city.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was shot once in the torso shortly before 1 p.m. local time. He was taken to hospital in serious but stable condition and was later released into ICE custody.
ICE agents had been seeking to apprehend a Venezuelan man whom they said was living in the US illegally and was subject to a deportation order. The available information does not establish the circumstances in which the officer fired, whether Garces Perez was armed, or whether officials believed he posed an imminent threat.
Austin police officers did not take part in the operation or the shooting. Mayor Kirk Watson said the city’s police department should be involved in the investigation.
Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch represented Garces Perez. Law enforcement officers told his family that they could not stand on the hospital driveway, according to the information provided.
A dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked beneath an overpass at the scene. Its passenger-side door was damaged and appeared to have bullet holes. About a hundred protesters gathered nearby.
US Representative Greg Casar called for transparency following the shooting. “For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here,” he said.
The shooting comes during an increase in ICE enforcement activity. The agency made more than 50,000 arrests a month in July and August 2026, the first time it had reached that monthly level in its history.
Two other ICE shootings occurred in July 2026. An ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, of Houston after federal agents pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site. In Maine, an ICE officer shot Johan Sebastián, a 25-year-old Colombian man.
Details of any criminal or administrative review of the Austin shooting have not been provided. The identity and background of the ICE officer who fired the shot also remain unknown, as do further details of Garces Perez’s immigration history and legal status beyond the deportation order.
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