AUSTIN, Texas – An ICE officer shot and critically wounded a Venezuelan man in North Austin on Sunday afternoon, authorities said. It is the latest shooting by federal immigration agents as the Trump administration ramps up its deportation agenda.
Austin-Travis County EMS reported to a shooting at the 8000 block of Anderson Square around 12:56 p.m., according to Austin police. The man had one gunshot wound to the chest and was transported to Dell Seton Medical Center. He was in serious but stable condition, EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said at a news conference.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said there was a foot chase before the shooting. She said the details were still preliminary.
A blue Toyota Corolla riddled with bullets and damaged passenger-side doors was left at the scene near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square.
Several law enforcement sources told ABC News that the shooting occurred during a targeted ICE operation and that the man - believed to be a Venezuelan national here without legal status - had a final order of removal. It wasn't immediately clear if he was the intended target of the operation, the sources said.
Sources provided the same account to NBC News and CNN. Separate sources within the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the final removal order to Fox News.
Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch identified the victim as 29-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez and said he is married to a woman with legal status in the United States. He allegedly called his wife from inside his car after he was shot, Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
The family was turned away from the hospital, she said. Relatives "have run us off the property," she told NPR. No one has been able to update his wife on his condition.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, who represents the area, told CNN that the man works as a delivery driver. Casar called for an independent investigation, the release of body camera footage and accountability for any officer who broke the law.
Austin police weren't present when the shooting occurred but helped direct traffic, officials said. The investigation will be handled by the special investigation unit from the Austin Police Department and the Texas Rangers.
Austin City Councilmember Mike Siegel told ABC News that city police were "not being permitted" to work at the crime scene, which was being controlled by ICE, Homeland Security Investigations and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Siegel said he witnessed at least two bullet holes in the passenger side of the vehicle.
Mayor Kirk Watson said the shooting came after an uptick in ICE detentions in Austin. Watson said he was angry about the shooting but "not surprised at all" given similar situations in other cities.
Demonstrators gathered around the scene, yelling obscenities at authorities and shouting at officers, who appeared to fire pepper spray at the crowd, according to video from Austin television station KTBC.
DHS hasn't clarified if the officers were wearing body cameras, if the man was the intended target of the operation and if he has a criminal record other than his immigration status. DHS and ICE haven't issued an on-the-record statement as of Sunday evening.
It's the second shooting by an ICE officer in Texas in the past few months. An ICE agent shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston in July. Federal officials later said Salgado Araujo was not the intended target. The department said the officers involved in the shooting hadn't been issued body-worn cameras, blaming bureaucratic delays in funding the cameras.
More than 20 people have been shot by federal immigration agents since January 2025, six of them dead, according to The New York Times. Nearly all of the shootings involved officers firing at people inside vehicles.
