{"id":445070,"date":"2026-09-23T11:44:10","date_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:44:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/445070\/"},"modified":"2026-09-23T11:44:10","modified_gmt":"2026-09-23T11:44:10","slug":"four-questions-about-austin-ice-shooting-as-bodycam-released","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/445070\/","title":{"rendered":"Four Questions About Austin ICE Shooting as Bodycam Released"},"content":{"rendered":"

Three days after a Venezuelan man was shot and wounded by an Immigration<\/a> and Customs Enforcement (ICE<\/a>) agent in Austin<\/a> while making a food delivery for DoorDash, many of the details of what happened remain unclear.<\/p>\n

The revelation that the as-yet-unnamed ICE agent who shot 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez on Sunday was not wearing the body camera issued to him removes an immediate source of clarity from the case.<\/p>\n

The incident took place just before 1 p.m. local time near Anderson Square and Research Boulevard, in the city\u2019s north side. Footage shared on social media shows an unmarked vehicle driven by ICE agents ramming Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s car and an ICE agent firing at least three shots in its direction, one of which appears to have hit the man.<\/p>\n

Read More on News<\/p>\n

During a news conference on Sunday, Chief of Austin-Travis County EMS Robert Luckritz said he believes the man was shot once in the torso. Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said the man was shot in the back of the neck.<\/p>\n

Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was initially brought to Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas<\/a> and released into ICE custody on Sunday night in “stable” conditions, as reported by Austin Mayor Kirk Watson. But during a press conference on Monday, Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez said, with the help of a translator, that doctors did not remove the bullet inside him because it was close to his spine.<\/a><\/p>\n

After speaking publicly about the lack of medical treatment he needed, Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was taken back to a hospital on Monday night, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch. After being given morphine for the pain, he was released again to the detention center with the bullet still lodged in his body, the attorney said.<\/p>\n

Democratic leaders and immigration advocates in the city and Texas have questioned what prompted an ICE agent to shoot Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez and whether the man has received proper medical treatment after the incident, calling for a transparent investigation into what happened. But many questions linked to the incident still remain unanswered, as Lincoln-Goldfinch and the federal government give contradictory accounts of Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s immigration status and what happened on Sunday.<\/p>\n

\"AuthoritiesWhat Happened Before the Shooting<\/a>?<\/p>\n

Lincoln-Goldfinch said that Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez entered the U.S. lawfully in 2024 as an asylum seeker through a parole program and had a valid work permit. DHS has described him in a statement shared with Newsweek as an “illegal alien” who “illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal.”<\/p>\n

The program, which started under the Biden administration, was ended by President Donald Trump on his first day in office.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, DHS said<\/a> that Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s work permit had expired last year and a judge had ordered his deportation after the man missed a hearing in immigration court. According to Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez did not attend the hearing because notice was sent to a former address.<\/p>\n

In its statement to Newsweek on Sunday, DHS said that the shooting in Austin occurred “during a law enforcement operation today in Austin, TX.” DoorDash confirmed that Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was out on a food delivery for the company. It told Newsweek that the company is actively investigating the incident but has no additional details to share. DoorDash also said all Dashers are independent contractors, not employees.<\/p>\n

Why Were Shots Fired?<\/p>\n

It is unclear why the ICE agent opened fire against Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s vehicle. Footage<\/a> taken by Austin resident Heidi Ann Clark, who was driving by the scene and livestreaming around 12:50 p.m. local time, shows a fast-moving vehicle slamming on its brakes on the other side of the road and stopping near a blue Toyota Corolla belonging to Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez. <\/p>\n

In the video, an ICE agent can be seen coming out of the unmarked black SUV and running toward the Toyota Corolla while holding a firearm. While a siren is blasting in the background, the sounds of three shots being fired can be heard shortly after the officer leaves the vehicle. The blue car is still slowly rolling but stops when the officer approaches.<\/p>\n

The DHS, which oversees ICE, has not said what led up to the ICE agent opening fire, and footage available does not show whether there was an exchange with Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez before the shots were fired. Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez said ICE agents sideswiped his car without warning and shot him as he was turning around and trying to park, as reported by The Associated Press.<\/a><\/p>\n

According to Austin Police Department (APD) Chief Lisa Davis, the shooting was preceded by a pursuit that went through some side neighborhoods and ended on a side street about 200 yards from where the man was shot by an ICE agent.<\/p>\n

While APD was not involved in the shooting, body camera footage released by the department after officers arrived at the scene revealed what unfolded right after the incident. In one of the videos<\/a>, an APD officer can be seen leaving a vehicle and approaching two ICE agents, one of whom is wearing a face covering and a cap and talking to the officer while the other agent talks on the phone. Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez, still sitting in his blue Toyota Corolla, can be seen holding his left shoulder with his right hand and grimacing in apparent pain.<\/p>\n

The APD officer can then be seen wearing gloves and helping Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez stand up. “Is he under arrest?” the APD officer asks the ICE agents. “Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah,” they respond, and Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez is then cuffed and told to sit down in Spanish. His shirt is then cut to expose a bleeding gunshot wound in the back of his left shoulder.<\/p>\n

DHS is leading an investigation into the incident, while Travis County District Attorney Jose Garza, the top state prosecutor in the Texas capital, said that local authorities are conducting their own investigation into the shooting.<\/p>\n

\"DemonstratorsWill ICE Release Bodycam Footage?<\/p>\n

Officials said it is not clear why the ICE agent who shot Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was not wearing a body camera. But the other ICE agent on the scene was wearing and using one, according to NBC News<\/a>, though this only captured partial footage of the incident. Officials told the news company that the footage captured by the other agent did not include the moment of the shooting.<\/p>\n

This footage has not yet been released to the public, and it is unclear whether it ever will be. Newsweek contacted DHS and ICE for comment by email on Wednesday. There might be pressure, however, for DHS to release any footage of the incident it might have.<\/p>\n

Texas Congressman Greg Casar, a Democrat who represents Texas\u2019 35th Congressional District, which includes East Austin, has demanded a full and immediate independent investigation into the shooting and the release of body camera footage. Casar also asked for full “accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.”<\/p>\n

\"Lincoln-GoldfinchWill Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez Be Deported?<\/p>\n

Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez is likely to remain in the country as the incident is investigated. On Tuesday, a federal judge granted an emergency order temporarily blocking deportation proceedings<\/a> against him, Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote on social media.<\/a><\/p>\n

The Travis County District Attorney\u2019s Office also sent a letter<\/a> to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and ICE Director David J. Venturella requesting that removal proceedings against Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez be halted while the investigation continues, as he is “a material witness in the ongoing investigation or any future prosecution of this incident will be severely hindered if he is removed from the United States.”<\/p>\n

Newsweek contacted Lincoln-Goldfinch for comment by email on Wednesday and is awaiting a response.<\/p>\n

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Tobias Meyjes<\/a> and James Debens<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Three days after a Venezuelan man was shot and wounded by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133,1829,1724,95,27],"class_list":["post-445070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news","tag-ice","tag-immigration","tag-shooting","tag-texas"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}