An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a Venezuelan man during an enforcement operation in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, prompting protests and calls from local officials for an independent investigation and the release of body-camera footage.
The shooting occurred shortly before 1 p.m. in North Austin near the 7000 block of West Anderson Lane.
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Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said preliminary information indicated that ICE officers were involved in a brief foot pursuit before an agent fired at the man, striking him once in the torso.
ICE said the man “illegally entered the country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal during a law enforcement operation” in the Texas state capital Sunday.
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“The illegal alien’s condition is stable, and he is in federal custody pending removal,” DHS wrote on X.
The man was taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition, according to city officials. He was later identified by his attorney as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan national.
Department of Homeland Security sources told Fox News that Garces Perez is in the United States illegally and has a final order of removal. His attorney has disputed the government’s characterization of his immigration status, saying he entered the country legally and possesses a valid work permit.
Authorities have not yet provided a detailed account of what occurred immediately before the shooting, including whether Garces Perez was armed or what prompted the officer to fire.
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, whose district includes parts of Austin, quickly called for the release of any body-camera footage from the incident and demanded that the shooting be independently investigated.
“The horror has come to our city: ICE has shot a person in Austin this morning,” Casar wrote on social media.
Casar also accused ICE of providing misleading accounts following previous shootings and said authorities should provide the public with evidence showing what happened.
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Austin Mayor Kirk Watson similarly called for an investigation that does not rely solely on ICE to examine the actions of its own personnel.
Watson said he was angry about the shooting but cautioned that many of the circumstances remained unknown. He called for a transparent investigation involving outside law enforcement authorities.
“The city of Austin deserves answers,” Davis said. “We’re going to get all those questions answered, and we’ll be as transparent as we can be.”
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The shooting comes as ICE expands its use of body-worn cameras nationwide.
In July, the agency implemented new guidance requiring at least one officer on an ICE arrest team to wear a body camera when conducting vehicle stops. At the time, the White House said more than half of ICE field offices had received cameras and that the remaining offices were expected to receive them within approximately 60 days.
It was not immediately clear whether the officer involved in Sunday’s shooting was wearing a body camera or whether footage of the encounter exists.
The incident also triggered a demonstration near the shooting scene as dozens of people gathered Sunday afternoon and into the evening.
Video from the area showed demonstrators shouting at authorities and gathering near police lines. As tensions escalated, officers appeared to deploy crowd-control measures. Fox News reported that Texas authorities eventually used tear gas to disperse demonstrators.
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The shooting comes amid heightened national scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement operations under President Donald Trump.
ICE has significantly increased enforcement activity during Trump’s second term as his administration seeks to expand arrests and deportations. Those operations have generated protests and legal challenges in several cities, while the administration has argued that aggressive enforcement is necessary to carry out federal immigration law.
The Austin incident follows several other shootings involving federal immigration officers this year.
Federal immigration operations drew widespread attention following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis in January. Federal authorities said Good attempted to use her vehicle against officers before she was shot by an ICE agent.
Pretti, who was armed, was later fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent while interferring in a law enforcement operation.
This article may contain commentary which reflects the author’s opinion.
