ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas, sparking demands for full investigation

A federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man on Sunday in Austin, Texas, authorities said.

The shooting occurred shortly before 1 p.m. local time on the city’s north side. Chief of Austin-Travis County EMS Robert Luckritz said at a Sunday news conference he believes the man was shot once in the torso and that he was still in serious condition.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said that, while the man’s condition was serious, he was stable.

A lawyer for the man who was shot identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national. Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch told CBS News that Garces Perez called his wife while “yelling in pain” at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said she has had no updates on Garces Perez’s condition or whereabouts for at least six hours and could not confirm his legal status as of Sunday evening.

“The focus right now is trying to find him and ascertain his medical status,” she said. 

She told CBS News that when they rushed to the hospital, law enforcement “ran us off the property and told us we can’t even stand on the driveway.”

Federal law enforcement sources told CBS News that ICE agents were looking to apprehend a Venezuelan man living in the U.S. illegally and with a deportation order. Sources confirmed the man is Garces Perez.

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the shooting may have involved a foot pursuit, but cautioned that the information is preliminary. She added that local authorities did not have a lot of facts at that point, but local police investigators were on the scene and are in touch with ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations. Both Davis and Watson said Austin police were not involved in the shooting.

Austin City Council member Mike Siegel, who represents Austin District 7, alleged an ICE officer rammed the man’s car, then got out of his federal vehicle and opened fire at least five times.

Homeland Security Investigations will lead the investigation, with the FBI assisting, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News.

The transfer of investigative responsibility for certain ICE-involved shootings from the FBI to Homeland Security Investigations represents a notable departure from longstanding federal practice. The FBI has historically investigated assaults on federal officers and, together with the Justice Department, has jurisdiction and specialized expertise in potential federal civil rights violations arising from law enforcement uses of deadly force. 

HSI is a component of ICE itself and has not traditionally served as the principal investigative body for officer-involved shootings. CBS News reported in July that FBI field offices were instructed to defer assault-on-federal-officer investigations involving DHS personnel to HSI, including cases in which immigration agents discharged their weapons, although Justice Department and the Department of Homeland Security officials denied that a formal policy change had occurred.   

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, didn’t immediately respond to CBS News’ requests for details.

A dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under an overpass with damage to its passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes, local media reported. Siegel said he could see at least two bullet holes.

A large law enforcement presence was at the scene, along with a crowd of onlookers.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, who represents parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.

“The horror has come to our city: ICE has shot a person in Austin this morning,” Casar wrote on X. “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.”

Watson said at Sunday’s news conference he’s “very angry” about the shooting but “not surprised” given prior ICE-related shootings in other U.S. cities.

Watson said he has asked for local officials to be involved in the investigation and questioned ICE’s credibility to conduct its own probe, saying, “Austinites have a right to know what happened.”

James Talarico, the Democratic candidate for November’s Senate race in Texas, said in a statement he was “closely following reports” of the shooting.

“Previous incidents have shown that this agency cannot be trusted to report all the facts. We need a full, independent investigation that includes the release of any and all available footage,” he said. “As we seek further information, my prayers are with those impacted and with the Austin community.”

The shooting comes a few months after an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, of Houston, in July after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.

Also in July, 25-year-old Johan Sebastián, a Colombian man, was shot by an ICE officer in Maine. The officer is an Army veteran who has struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told The Associated Press.

The shootings come amid a Trump administration push to carry out its mass deportation agenda. While the administration is no longer cracking down on individual cities, arrests are still occurring.

The administration’s enforcement efforts were widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.