An ICE agent shot and seriously wounded a man in Austin on Sunday – triggering a standoff, clashes with police and demands from a Democratic congressman for an independent investigation.
The dramatic confrontation unfolded shortly before 1pm beneath an overpass in north Austin, after the federal immigration agent became involved in a traffic stop and brief foot pursuit, according to preliminary accounts from local officials.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 29, identified by his attorney as a Venezuelan national, was rushed to Dell Seton Medical Center with a gunshot wound to his torso.
Perez was reported to be in serious but stable condition earlier today and has since been discharged and placed in ICE custody, as per officials.
Photos taken exclusively by the Daily Mail show a small blue Toyota sedan with bullet holes riddling the passenger-side door, surrounded by police tape beneath the highway overpass.
Onlookers told the Daily Mail that Perez took off on foot after his car rolled to a halt and was subsequently shot.
Other witnesses told local NPR affiliate KUT that they heard gunshots and encountered an ICE agent alongside a man who appeared to have been shot in the back.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said that the incident may have involved a foot pursuit, but stressed that authorities had only limited information and that the investigation was continuing. Austin police were quick to stress that their officers did not fire the shots.
Police in Austin were locked in a standoff on Sunday evening with a squad of rock-hurling protesters, enraged after a Venezuelan man Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot – allegedly in the back – by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers
Photos exclusively taken by the Daily Mail show the small blue Toyota sedan the man had been traveling in when chased by ICE with bullet holes riddling the passenger door
Onlookers told the Daily Mail that the man – who is understood to be a Venezuelan illegal immigrant – took off on foot after his car rolled to a halt and was subsequently shot
At least one person in civilian clothes who appeared to be uninjured was put in handcuffs on the scene, according to Austin Council member Mike Siegel.
The shooting rapidly became the focus of anger in the Texas capital. As the evening drew in, a crowd of protesters – many waving Mexican flags – gathered on one side of the overpass, screaming ‘F*** ICE’ and demanding to know if the ICE agent in question had been arrested.
Many also started hurling rocks and water bottles at a squad of riot police sent in by the Austin Police Department, with cops firing pepper balls at the protesters in response.
At one point, demonstrators confronted police behind protective shields. Local reporting said officers used chemical agents to disperse the crowd.
The confrontation came as questions mounted over what exactly happened during the federal operation – and why Perez was shot, as his attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told outlets that he is married to a women who has legal status in the US.
Democratic Representative Greg Casar demanded an independent investigation and called for the immediate release of body-camera footage.
‘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 said in a statement reported by CBS News.
‘Over and over, ICE has shot people and then lied about what happened,’ Casar said, referencing the fatal shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year.
Chief Davis said local investigators were at the scene and were communicating with federal authorities, while Mayor Kirk Watson called for Austin police to have a role in examining what happened
Watson said he wanted a ‘clear-eyed, third-party look’ at the shooting while Democratic representative Greg Casar called for accountability for any ICE officer found to have broken the law.
By Sunday afternoon, dozens of protesters gathered close to the scene, with demonstrators shouting anti-ICE slogans as police maintained a heavy presence around the area
At one point, demonstrators confronted police behind protective shields. Local reporting said officers used chemical agents to disperse the crowd
The incident comes amid an expanded federal immigration enforcement campaign and follows other shootings involving immigration agents this year. In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston after federal agents attempted to stop a vehicle, yet Salgado Araujo was not the target of the warrant the agents were attempting to execute
The congressman’s comments came as local officials repeatedly emphasized that many details of Sunday’s shooting were still preliminary.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson also called for local police to have a role in the investigation, saying he wanted a third-party examination of the incident rather than having ICE investigate itself.
At a press conference that took place earlier today, Watson said Perez was in serious but stable condition.
The incident has already drawn comparisons with other recent Texas shootings involving federal immigration agents, including the fatal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston in July. That case remains under investigation.
‘This is a pattern. This is a disturbing pattern,’ said Casar.
Federal authorities had not released a full account of the encounter as of Sunday evening, nor have they identified the agent involved.
It also remains unclear whether the federal officer in question has remained in Austin. Mayor Watson said he hoped that an agent involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city or state while the investigation was underway.
This is a developing story, more to come.
