The Venezuelan man shot by an ICE officer in North Austin on Sunday is back in federal detention after a second hospital trip, as federal officials and his lawyers offer sharply different accounts of the shooting and his treatment.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was wounded about 12:56 p.m. Sunday near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square while working a DoorDash route, the Austin American-Statesman reported. He was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center with a gunshot wound, later transferred to ICE custody, returned to a hospital Monday after pain and numbness in an arm, and sent back to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. A federal judge has ordered him to appear in San Antonio on Sept. 30 and has at least temporarily blocked his removal.
Perez and attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch have said agents in an unmarked vehicle never identified themselves, sideswiped his car and shot him while he was still in the driver’s seat. They say he entered through the CBP One process, had a work permit, was seeking asylum, missed a hearing after an address change and has no criminal record. Lawmakers including U.S. Reps. Greg Casar and Joaquin Castro have demanded an independent investigation and criticized his medical care, including a bullet still lodged near his spine.
🚨 BREAKING: The Venezuelan illegal shot by ICE in Austin was caught on camera running in a HIGH SPEED PURSUIT, per video obtained by @Savsays
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) September 22, 2026
This guy is NOT a victim. He endangered COUNTLESS American lives by VlOLENTLY speeding away
ICE CLEARLY had lights and sirens engaged,…
Sanctuary politicians and the media wasted no time in spreading lies about an ICE officer-involved shooting of illegal alien in Austin, Texas.
— Homeland Security (@DHSgov) September 22, 2026
No amount of smears and false narratives will slow down ICE from doing its job to arrest illegal aliens from our communities.
Here are…
The Department of Homeland Security released a point-by-point rebuttal Tuesday. Secretary Markwayne Mullin said politicians and media spread false narratives and that Perez is in the country illegally, with an expired 2025 work permit, no lawful status and a final removal order from an immigration judge. DHS said ICE does not decide hospital procedures, that Perez is receiving around-the-clock care including pain medication, that he slept on a bed in detention rather than the floor, and that he was the subject of a targeted vehicle stop — not random targeting. The agency said resisting or evading arrest is a federal crime and that ICE will not leave Austin.
Video and police accounts describe a pursuit after officers tried to stop a vehicle tied to a removal order, including a U-turn under a highway, rather than a casual delivery interrupted by an unexplained sideswipe. Austin police are investigating alongside the Texas Rangers. Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are leading the federal review. The officer who fired was issued a body camera but was not wearing it, officials told other news outlets; another officer’s camera captured only part of the encounter. Protests followed near the scene and at the Texas Capitol.
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