Texas Department of Public Safety troopers gathered at the Texas State Capitol ahead of a planned protest in support of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
Lily Kepner/American-Statesman
Protesters gather around a memorial at the site where an I.C.E. agent shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez at the intersection of Anderson Square and Research Boulevard on Sunday, Sep. 20, 2026 in North Austin.
Aaron E. Martinez/Austin American-Statesman
Workers with Pulice Construction paint over anti-ICE graffiti at the site where ICE agents shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez at the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square in Austin on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Workers with Pulice Construction paint over anti-ICE graffiti at the site where ICE agents shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez at the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square in Austin on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Texas Department of Public Safety troopers gathered at the Texas State Capitol ahead of a planned protest in support of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
Lily Kepner/American-Statesman
A federal immigration agent shot and injured 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez on Sunday in North Austin, according to state and local officials.
The shooting occurred around 12:56 p.m. in the 8000 block of Anderson Square, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said.
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Perez suffered a wound to his torso and was transferred to the Dell Seton Medical Center in stable condition. He was released into ICE custody around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, according to Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an attorney representing his family.
At a news conference, Mayor Kirk Watson called for an independent investigation into the incident.
Follow along for live updates. Read Sunday’s coverage here.
The crowd at Monday night’s protest outside the Texas Capitol grew to nearly 200 people as organizers continued calling for changes to federal immigration enforcement following the shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez.
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Sofia Gomez of the Freedom Road Socialist Organization told demonstrators that immigrants in the United States are treated as “second-class citizens” and echoed earlier speakers’ calls for legal status for all immigrants and the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Gomez compared the movement against ICE with efforts by Black activists in the 1960s to protect communities from police brutality. She said Austin should become a place “where people are comfortable going out on the streets and speaking Spanish.”
Gomez drew comparisons between the movement against ICE to Malcolm X’s Black Panther Party, which fought in the 1960s to protect Black communities from police brutality.
“If you are here feeling hopeless, because this is f— sad and horrible,” Gomez said. “Showing up is the first step.”
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— Lily Kepner, higher education reporter
Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said Monday evening that Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was taken to a hospital after another detainee told her officers handled him roughly and that he then lost feeling on the left side of his body, including his arm and leg, confirming a statement made earlier Monday by U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said on social media she learned of the development after Garces Perez spoke publicly by phone during Monday’s news conference. She said the other detainee told her Garces Perez had been handcuffed, shackled at the feet and placed in a waist chain before being taken to a hospital.
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Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez has a bullet lodged near his spine and that she is waiting for more information about his condition.
In a social media post, Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez had been in severe pain, had not received pain medication and was taken to an ICE processing center where it was extremely cold and there was no bed. She said he was transferred to the detention center in Pearsall at 4 a.m.
“We need answers. We need to know that Wilber is safe and receiving appropriate medical care. So far, he has not,” Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote.
Meanwhile, leaders of La Frontera Unidad, which organized Monday night’s protest at the Texas Capitol, called for the abolition of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and legal status for all people living in the United States without legal authorization.
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“Not one agency that fills the back of my people with bullets can ever be reformed,” said Jesse Valdelamar, the organization’s president.
Valdelamar said reforming ICE would not address what he sees as the underlying problem with immigration enforcement. Instead, he said legalization for all people living in the country without legal status should be the goal.
Selena Jurado, also with La Frontera Unidad, outlined three immediate demands: that Garces Perez be released from federal immigration custody, that the federal immigration officer who shot him be arrested and prosecuted, and that the shooting receive what the group considers an independent investigation.
Valdelamar said “legalization is rooted in the history of the Southwest” and compared the shooting of Garces Perez with the treatment of Mexican communities in Texas after the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo. He cited the 1918 Porvenir massacre, when Texas Rangers and local ranchers killed 15 unarmed Mexican men and boys who had been taken into custody. In reports after the killings, Rangers portrayed the men as criminals and described an exchange of gunfire. Later investigations found that the victims had been unarmed and in Ranger custody when they were killed. Valdelamar argued that history showed why he is skeptical of allowing law enforcement agencies to control the account of their own use of force.
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The Austin American-Statesman has continued to request comment from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security about Garces Perez’s medical care and current condition.
— Lily Kepner, higher education reporter; Dante Motley, breaking news reporter; and Katey Psencik, breaking and trending editor
Jesse Valdelamar, president of La Frontera Unidad — the group organizing Monday night’s protest — said in an interview that the organization is fighting for immigrant rights and is not intimidated by the heavy presence of state troopers.
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“We’re not here to antagonize,” he said “We want people to feel safe.”
He hopes the protests helps immigrants scared after Wilber Garces Perez “remember you are not alone.”
“This is the broad spectrum of society coming out here,” he added, referring to the age and race diversity in the 50-person crowd that had gathered roughly 10 minutes before the protest was set to begin.
The Texas Department of Public Safety wrote in an X post Monday evening that troopers would monitor the protest and close the Capitol grounds “as scheduled” at 8 p.m., the same time the protest was planned to begin. The Capitol grounds remain open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, with exceptions on certain holidays, according to the Texas State Preservation Board.
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The Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) is continuously monitoring events and their impact on public safety, including this evening’s planned protest in Downtown Austin. As scheduled, DPS will be closing Texas State Capitol Grounds at 8:00 p.m. tonight. @TxDPSCapitol
DPS… pic.twitter.com/h0xWAZ0J0Z
— Texas DPS (@TxDPS) September 21, 2026
— Lily Kepner, higher education reporter and Katey Psencik, breaking and trending editor
About a dozen protesters gathered by the southern gates of the Texas State Capitol Monday ahead of a planned protest in support of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. About 15 state troopers with the Texas Department of Public Safety rode bikes to the event and appeared to block off access to the Capitol grounds.
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Texas Department of Public Safety troopers gathered at the Texas State Capitol ahead of a planned protest in support of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
The protest, organized by La Frontera Unida, was set to start at 8 p.m.
— Lily Kepner, higher education reporter
A total of four people were arrested and three Austin police officers suffered minor injuries Sunday night during the demonstration that grew to hundreds of people in North Austin near the site of where an ICE agent shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, according to Austin police.
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Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said in a video released on social media Monday evening that the Austin Police Department is also investigating the shooting, including gathering physical evidence, reviewing available video and interviewing witnesses. The department asked anyone who witnessed the shooting or recorded video or photographs to provide them to investigators.
“People will have strong feelings about what happened. People will have questions, and they should,” Davis said. “But in determining what occurred in this particular incident, we have to allow evidence, and not rumor, speculation or incomplete information, guide us.”
Police said officers responded around 5:30 p.m. on Sunday to the intersection of the southbound Research Boulevard service road and Anderson Square. As the crowd grew, police said some people threw rocks, bottles and pieces of concrete, damaging three APD vehicles. One person was arrested during that period, and two officers suffered minor injuries.
After law enforcement left the scene, Texas Department of Public Safety troopers returned around 10:15 p.m. and cleared the intersection, police said. The crowd dispersed by about 10:30 p.m. Two more people were arrested by APD, and a third APD officer suffered a minor injury.
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DPS troopers made one arrest — Kevin Howard Davis, 60 — for obstructing a highway or other passage way.
Davis said APD would protect people’s right to demonstrate peacefully but warned that violence against officers or others would result in arrests.
“Our responsibility during those demonstrations is public safety,” she said.
Police identified those arrested as Robert Padgett, 48, who was charged with resisting arrest and riot; Armando Menagarcia, 29, who was charged with assault on a peace officer, resisting arrest and riot; and Matthew Hemby, 44, who was charged with riot.
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All three were booked into the Travis County Jail.
— Dante Motley, breaking news reporter
U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro gave an update on Garces Perez’s condition via social media, saying, “He’s being taken to the hospital. He is in tremendous pain and tells us that the bullet is still inside his left side. He can’t move the left side of his body.”
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Austin-Travis County EMS took Garces Perez to Dell Seton Medical Center after he was shot Sunday. He was released to ICE custody about 4:30 p.m. the same day.
Update on the condition of Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez at the South Texas Ice Processing Center. He’s being taken to the hospital. He is in tremendous pain and tells us that the bullet is still inside his left side. He can’t move the left side of his body. pic.twitter.com/SWquC2AOrj
— Joaquin Castro (@JoaquinCastrotx) September 21, 2026
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Texas Department of Public Safety troopers made one arrest Sunday during demonstrations held near Anderson Square and Research Boulevard in response to an ICE agent shooting Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. DPS personnel arrested Kevin Howard Davis, 60 for obstructing a highway or other passage way, a state felony. No one with that name was listed in the Travis County jail roster as of 4 p.m.
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“Texas is a law-and-order state, and the department has zero tolerance for individuals who disrupt public order or endanger law enforcement officers,” DPS spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said in a statement.
Austin Police Department officials have not responded to questions about any arrests made by Austin officers.
La Frontera Unida, a community organization which advocates for immigrants’ rights, has planned a protest for 8 p.m. Monday at the Texas State Capitol.
— Austin Sanders, public safety reporter
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Wilber Rafael Garces Perez addressed supporters by speakerphone Monday afternoon from federal custody, offering his first public account of Sunday’s shooting.
Speaking through a translator, Garces Perez said he was driving on Anderson Lane to make a DoorDash delivery when a vehicle pulled alongside him and tried to hit his car. Believing it was an aggressive driver, he continued driving.
Garces Perez said the vehicle did not activate its emergency lights or otherwise identify itself before the initial collision. According to his account, it sideswiped his car before agents turned on their emergency lights. He said he then tried to find a safer place to pull over after realizing the people behind him were federal immigration officers. Instead, he said, it struck his car again and officers shot him.
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Garces Perez said he never got out of his vehicle before the shooting and that there was no foot pursuit. He said officers removed him from the vehicle only after he was shot and handcuffed.
He said he does not know how many times he was shot because he felt only one bullet wound. According to Garces Perez, one of the officers got into his vehicle and turned it off. He said he told officers he was in severe pain before he lost consciousness.
Elizdar, wife of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, listens as her husband speaks by phone from the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall during a news conference at the Law Office of Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch in Austin on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026, about the shooting by an ICE agent the previous day.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
Garces Perez also said he “is not doing well due to the gunshot wound” and has not received the medical care he requires. He said he repeatedly complained about being in pain while at Dell Seton Medical Center and did not receive proper treatment. According to Garces Perez, a doctor told him, “They’re in a hurry to get you out of there.”
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He said he did not undergo surgery and that the bullet remains lodged near his spine. He said he was still actively bleeding when he spoke with his attorney Monday morning and spent the night in a cold room without a bed. He said a nurse gave him one pill Monday morning, but he remains in significant pain.
Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch also disputed the Department of Homeland Security’s description of Garces Perez’s immigration status. She said he entered the United States lawfully through the CBP One app in 2024, received a work permit and was seeking asylum. According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garces Perez updated his address with the immigration court, but a notice of a hearing was sent to a previous address, resulting in a deportation order after he did not appear. Lincoln-Goldfinch said she does not yet know when that deportation order was issued.
The Austin American-Statesman has requested additional details from Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Homeland Security about the shooting but has not received additional comment beyond the statement DHS released Sunday night. In that statement, DHS said Garces Perez was in the country illegally and had a final order of removal. The Statesman has also requested comment from Dell Seton Medical Center regarding Garces Perez’s account of his medical treatment.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said she is filing a temporary restraining order and a habeas corpus petition in federal court to prevent Garces Perez from being removed from the country while the investigation into Sunday’s shooting continues.
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— Julianna Duennes Russ, breaking and trending reporter and Lily Kepner, higher education reporter
Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said Monday that Wilber Rafael Garces Perez told her he did not know the people pursuing him Sunday were federal immigration officers because they were driving an unmarked black vehicle.
Speaking at a news conference alongside leaders from the League of United Latin American Citizens, U.S. Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar and more than 20 community members, Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez told her an unmarked black vehicle sideswiped his car while he was driving in North Austin. Believing it was another driver, he made a U-turn, she said. According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, the vehicle struck his car again before an officer shot him in the back and pulled him from the car.
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Lincoln-Goldfinch said her legal team has video that she said supports Garces Perez’s account and that there was no foot pursuit.
Lincoln-Goldfinch described the family’s search for Garces Perez after the shooting. She said his wife received a phone call from him around 12:30 p.m. Sunday in which he shouted that he had been shot and was in pain before the call disconnected.
According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garces Perez’s wife rushed to Dell Seton Medical Center but was told he was not a patient. She then went to the shooting scene before returning to the hospital. Although city officials later confirmed he was there, Lincoln-Goldfinch said hospital staff and security continued to deny he was a patient and escorted the family from the property. She said the family also saw reports that Garces Perez had died before learning he was alive.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said neither Immigration and Customs Enforcement nor hospital staff informed the family of Garces Perez’s condition or whereabouts until about 10 a.m. Monday. She said he still had a bullet lodged in his back when he was released into federal custody Sunday afternoon, was not given pain medication, slept on the floor overnight and was taken to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall around 4 a.m. Monday, where she said he has since been interrogated.
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She also called for Immigration and Customs Enforcement to release body camera footage within 24 hours of officer-involved shootings and urged Congress to prohibit the agency from conducting traffic stops.
LULAC leaders used the news conference to call for independent oversight of federal immigration officer use-of-force incidents. Roman Palomares, the organization’s national president, urged Congress to establish an independent body outside the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Department of Justice to investigate such incidents. He also called for prosecutors to have clear authority to pursue criminal charges against federal officials who violate civil rights.
Doggett said he offered his “full and unqualified support” to LULAC’s calls for greater oversight. He said he hopes any demonstrations that follow Sunday’s shooting remain peaceful, encouraged supporters to carry more American flags at future protests and said, “We need to reject the un-Americanism that is reflected in these terrible policies.”
LULAC CEO Juan Proaño said Garces Perez is being held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. He said the organization has seen video that it says shows officers ramming Garces Perez’s vehicle before firing at least five times. Proaño called on federal officials to disclose Garces Perez’s medical condition, allow his wife and attorney access to him and not remove him from the country while investigations into the shooting continue.
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Casar said Garces Perez had no criminal record and called for a criminal investigation into the shooting.
“ICE has not made us more safe by detaining 5-year-olds, shooting delivery drivers or raiding construction sites. Austin will be safer without ICE,” Casar said, appearing to reference the deportation of Victor Martinez Nieto and his 5-year-old son, Liam Tadeo, in August, as well as the detention of four construction workers during an August traffic stop outside Austin City Hall.
Travis County Commissioner Jeff Travillion also criticized ICE, saying the agency has been acting like “secret police” and calling it “illegitimate.”
— Julianna Duennes Russ, breaking and trending reporter
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Wilber Rafael Garces Perez has a valid work permit, according to his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
Lincoln-Goldfinch’s account contrasted the Department of Homeland Security’s statement that Garces Perez resided in Texas illegally and had a final order of removal.
In a new post on Instagram, Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez has a son with a disability, and he works to cover the expensive treatment and tests. He entered the country seeking asylum, she said.
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Sunday night, he slept on the floor and received no pain medication, Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
“We have confirmation that Wilber is being held at Pearsall for interrogation and still has the bullet lodged in his body,” she said.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to a request to comment on the post. Lincoln-Goldfinch did not say in the post if she has talked to Garces Perez or federal officials.
Lincoln-Goldfinch is expected to host a press conference at her office in Austin, where Roman Palomares, the national president of League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), is also expected to speak.
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— Lily Kepner, higher education reporter
Workers with Pulice Construction paint over anti-ICE graffiti at the site where ICE agents shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez at the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square in Austin on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
Jay Janner, American-Statesman
On Monday morning, workers with Pulice Construction painted over anti-ICE graffiti near the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square, where Garces Perez was shot Sunday. Flowers, candles and a sign reading “Justice 4 Wilber” were also placed near the shooting site.
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— Katey Psencik, breaking and trending editor
Flowers, candles and a sign reading “Justice 4 Wilber” are seen at the site where ICE agents shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez at the intersection of Research Boulevard and Anderson Square in Austin on Monday, Sept. 21, 2026.
Jay Janner/Austin American-Statesman
A video taken at the scene, and independently verified by the Statesman, shows Garces Perez sitting in the driver’s seat of a blue Toyota after the shooting. In the video, two federal immigration officers stand beside him before two Austin police officers arrive at the scene.
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In the video, one of the Austin police officers, who hasn’t been identified, asks one of the ICE agents whether emergency medical services are on their way, and the agent confirms EMS is en route. The video then shows Garces Perez being handcuffed and made to sit on the curb as an Austin police officer cuts his shirt open to expose one bleeding bullet wound in his back, directly below the nape of his neck.
— Julianna Duennes Russ, breaking and trending reporter
Attorney Kristen Etter confirmed to the Statesman that Wilber Rafael Garces Perez is being held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, roughly 135 miles southwest of Austin.
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— Tony Plohetski, investigative reporter
Fifteen hours after a man shot by ICE agents was released from the hospital, attorneys say they have been unable to locate him as of 8 a.m. Monday, “which is highly unusual,” attorney Kristen Etter told the Statesman. “It has been 15 hours since ICE takes you, whisks you from the hospital, and we have not been able to locate him.”
She said her client has not shown up in traditional databases used by attorneys. “We have no idea what type of condition he is in.”
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— Tony Plohetski, investigative reporter
The Department of Homeland Security posted an official statement about the shooting on X late Sunday night.
“Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is leading the investigation into the officer involved shooting of an illegal alien from Venezuela, who illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal, during a law enforcement operation today in Austin, TX,” the agency wrote.
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“The illegal alien’s condition is stable, and he is in federal custody pending removal. This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information becomes available.”
Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is leading the investigation into the officer involved shooting of an illegal alien from Venezuela, who illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order…
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 21, 2026
— Julianna Duennes Russ, breaking and trending reporter