{"id":449621,"date":"2026-09-27T22:04:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-27T22:04:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/449621\/"},"modified":"2026-09-27T22:04:53","modified_gmt":"2026-09-27T22:04:53","slug":"ice-agent-shoots-and-wounds-venezuelan-man-at-traffic-stop-in-austin-texas-ice-us-immigration-and-customs-enforcement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/449621\/","title":{"rendered":"ICE agent shoots and wounds Venezuelan man at traffic stop in Austin, Texas | ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE<\/a>) officer shot and wounded a Venezuelan man on Sunday afternoon in Texas<\/a>\u2019s capital city, Austin<\/a>, prompting demonstrations at the scene against the Trump administration\u2019s hardline anti-immigration campaign.<\/p>\n

The man, identified by relatives and his lawyer as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez, was taken to a hospital in Austin<\/a> in a serious but stable condition, officials said, before being taken into custody. He was shot once in the torso on the city\u2019s north side, Austin\u2019s police chief, Lisa Davis, said at a news conference with the mayor and other city officials.<\/p>\n

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees<\/a> ICE, said it was leading an investigation into the officer involved in the shooting, with the help of the FBI.<\/p>\n

Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop, Davis told reporters. The city\u2019s police arrived on the scene after the shooting and could be seen on bystander video asking the federal officers what had happened and then rushing back to their squad car to get surgical gloves and a medical kit and administering first aid to the man. The federal officers could be heard saying they had called an ambulance, but they did not appear to attempt to give first aid.<\/p>\n

\"EyewitnessEyewitness video shows moments after ICE agent shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas \u2013 video<\/p>\n

Just off the intersection where Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was shot, Nedavia Bola\u00f1os followed her husband out of the couple\u2019s ice-cream store after they heard gun shots. On the other side of the parking lot, below the highway overpass, they could see a blue Toyota sedan and a black SUV stopped, pointing in different directions, they told the Guardian.<\/p>\n

Bola\u00f1os\u2019 husband, who gave his name only as Carlos, rushed to the scene. Carlos said he asked the man if he was OK. He could see Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez clutching his chest and looking drained and distressed.<\/p>\n

Bola\u00f1os, who took footage on her phone, can be heard asking the federal agents: \u201cHey, guys, why\u2019d you do that to him?\u201d<\/p>\n

The ICE officer is standing next to the open car door, in which there is a visible dent.<\/p>\n

Bola\u00f1os said she was shocked to see the federal officers, who were wearing tactical vests and masks, standing by, not responding to her or her husband\u2019s questions.<\/p>\n

In her 40 years in the US, she said: \u201cI\u2019ve never seen this kind of stuff. Thank God I\u2019m a citizen or I\u2019d be living with this anguish, in a nightmare.\u201d<\/p>\n

An ICE officer puts handcuffs on the man and gets him out of the car, sitting him on the ground with his hands behind his back. Then Austin police can be seen in the video cutting off the man\u2019s shirt. At least one bright red bullet wound can be seen between his shoulder blades, and blood below.<\/p>\n

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s lawyer, said her client had arrived in the US two years ago from Venezuela. He was making a delivery for DoorDash when he encountered ICE and was shot, she said.<\/p>\n

Kirk Watson, Austin\u2019s Democratic mayor, said at the press conference later that he wanted the city\u2019s police department to be involved in the investigation so it can provide \u201cclear, third-party eyes\u201d in the process. Watson said he did not think it would be appropriate for ICE to conduct an investigation on its own.<\/p>\n

Austin residents have \u201ca right to feel safe in their city\u201d, Watson said. A proper investigation would only enhance credibility, he added.<\/p>\n

People speak during a demonstration where a man was shot in his vehicle by an ICE officer, on 20 September in Austin, Texas. Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez\/AP<\/p>\n

A large law enforcement presence was at the scene, along with a crowd of about a hundred protesters. Some demonstrators cursed at police officers holding riot shields, while others yelled out as passing cars honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign saying \u201cNobody is safe\u201d and on the other side, \u201cICE Nazi\u201d.<\/p>\n

Asked if Austin authorities knew where the involved federal agent was, given that agents have left states after previous shootings nationwide, the mayor said: \u201cWe do not know that. But my hope would be that, an agent that\u2019s involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state.\u201d<\/p>\n

Authorities deploy \u2018non-lethal\u2019 weapons near a demonstration where a man was shot in his vehicle by an ICE officer, on Sunday in Austin, Texas. Photograph: Joel Angel Juarez\/AP<\/p>\n

Greg Casar, a Democratic congressman representing parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep,\u201d Casar told reporters. \u201cFor Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lincoln-Goldfinch said that she took Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s wife to the downtown Austin hospital where they believed Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez was taken, but they were turned away. Later, hospital staff called to say ICE had taken Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez out of the hospital about 4.30pm local time.<\/p>\n

As of 10pm on Sunday night she said neither she nor Garc\u00e9s P\u00e9rez\u2019s family had heard from him and they were unsure what immigration detention center he might have been taken to.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m afraid he\u2019s not stable. I\u2019m afraid he\u2019s not receiving medical care, and I\u2019m afraid they\u2019re going to try to deport him to make this go away,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

The shooting came as ICE has surged enforcement this summer, producing more than 50,000 arrests<\/a> a month for the first time in its history in July and August.<\/p>\n

In July, an ICE officer fatally shot<\/a> 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.<\/p>\n

Also in July, Johan Sebasti\u00e1n Dur\u00e1n Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian man, was shot<\/a> by an ICE officer<\/a> in Maine. The officer is an army veteran who struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and never should have<\/a> been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets, several of his close relatives told<\/a> the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

The administration\u2019s enforcement efforts were<\/a> widely<\/a> condemned<\/a> last winter after the killings<\/a> of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.<\/p>\n

The Associated Press contributed reporting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and wounded a Venezuelan man on Sunday afternoon in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":449622,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[132,134,133],"class_list":["post-449621","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-austin","tag-austin","tag-austin-headlines","tag-austin-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449621","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=449621"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/449621\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/449622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449621"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449621"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}