Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez is reportedly recovering from surgery following the ICE-involved shooting on Sept. 20 in North Austin.

AUSTIN, Texas — The man shot by a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in North Austin reportedly underwent surgery Thursday. 

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, is recovering after “life-changing surgery” on Thursday, according to a joint statement from his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, and Danny Woodward with the Texas Civil Rights Project. 



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In the statement sent Thursday from Lincoln-Goldfinch and Woodward, Congressman Joaquin Castro stated “ICE would not grant Wilber’s wife access to the operating room.”

The statement claims it took 11 days after the shooting on Sunday, Sept. 20 for Garcés Pérez to receive the surgery. 

Earlier this week, the U.S. Attorney’s Office Western District of Texas said Garcés Pérez has been charged with one count of assaulting, resisting, interfering and impeding a federal officer following the shooting. 

Then on Wednesday, a federal magistrate judge ordered Garcés Pérez to be held without bond. As of Wednesday, he remains in custody at the South Texas ICE Processing Center, located in Pearsall, which is roughly 55 miles southwest of San Antonio. 

Lincoln-Goldfinch and Woodward also commented on ICE operations in their statement: “Since this incident, CNN has reported new ICE guidance that requires all officers on scene to have an activated body camera and bars vehicle pursuits. That is welcome, but it doesn’t erase what happened to Wilber.” 

This guidance also states that ICE officers must complete certain training courses, and those who have not finished these courses can only join in a limited capacity. It also states that all officers on scene must have activated body cameras, and that pursuits are prohibited if a driver does not pull over. 

Garcés Pérez was shot by an ICE officer in North Austin on Sept. 20 during an attempted immigration stop; he says agents in an unmarked vehicle sideswiped his car and shot him as he tried to find a safe place to pull over, while federal prosecutors allege he ignored orders, struck an officer with his side-view mirror and later tried to hit an officer with his car. He was hospitalized with a gunshot wound that left a bullet lodged near his spine and was then transferred into ICE custody hours later. Federal prosecutors have charged him with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, a judge ordered him held pending the case, and the shooting and its circumstances remain under investigation.