ICE agent shoots delivery driver in Austin as officials question who will investigate

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a 28-year-old Venezuelan man in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said Monday it is leading the investigation, NPR reported.

The shooting happened shortly before 1 p.m. local time on the city’s north side, CBS News reported. Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said at a Sunday news conference that he believes the man was shot once in the torso. Mayor Kirk Watson said the man was in serious but stable condition.

The man’s attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. She said he was working for DoorDash at the time, and a DoorDash spokesperson confirmed to NBC News that he was in the middle of a delivery. The company said it is investigating. Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez called his wife around 12:30 p.m. to tell her he had been shot and was “yelling in agony” before the call cut off.

DHS said in a statement late Sunday that the man was stable and in federal custody pending removal from the United States. In its Monday announcement, the department described him as “an illegal alien from Venezuela.” Federal law enforcement sources told CBS News that ICE agents were looking to apprehend a Venezuelan man who was living in the country illegally and had a deportation order, and that the sources confirmed the man is Garces Perez.

Lincoln-Goldfinch disputed that account of his status. “Based on the information available to us, he entered the United States lawfully,” she told CBS News, though she did not comment on his current legal status. She told NBC News he is an asylum seeker who entered through a parole program. She said his wife, who has legal status, indicated he has no criminal history. DHS has not said whether he had any criminal record beyond an immigration violation, according to NBC News.

Accounts of the shooting itself differ. Austin City Council member Mike Siegel, who spoke to NPR from the scene, said the man’s car had at least two bullet holes on the passenger side. Siegel told CBS News that an ICE officer rammed the car, got out of a federal vehicle and fired at least five times. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the incident may have involved a foot pursuit but cautioned that the information was preliminary. She and Watson both said Austin police were not involved.

Texas Department of Public Safety spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said the agency received a request for assistance from ICE for a vehicle pursuit involving a blue Toyota Corolla, and that the shooting occurred before state troopers arrived. NBC News verified a social media video that captures tires screeching, a person leaving a dark-colored SUV and at least three gunshots. DHS has not said whether the agent was wearing a body camera, NBC News reported.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said she and Garces Perez’s wife went to Dell Seton Medical Center and were told he was not there, then were escorted off the property by officers. She said a hospital administrator later confirmed to them that he had been released to ICE. The hospital did not respond to NBC News’ request for comment.

Homeland Security Investigations, with help from the FBI, will lead the investigation, multiple U.S. officials told CBS News. HSI is a component of ICE. CBS News reported that the FBI has historically investigated assaults on federal officers and, together with the Justice Department, has jurisdiction over potential federal civil rights violations arising from deadly force. CBS News also reported in July that FBI field offices were told to defer assault-on-federal-officer investigations involving DHS personnel to HSI, including cases in which immigration agents fired their weapons. Justice Department and DHS officials denied that a formal policy change had occurred.

Watson said he has asked for local officials to be involved in the investigation and questioned ICE’s credibility to conduct its own probe. “Austinites have a right to know what happened,” he said. He said he is “very angry” but “not surprised at all,” pointing to earlier ICE-involved shootings in Chicago and Minneapolis.

U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat who represents part of Austin, demanded an independent investigation, the release of any body camera footage and “accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.” In a letter to DHS Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Acting ICE Director David Venturella, he requested a congressional briefing by Sept. 28. The League of United Latin American Citizens called on Congress to establish independent oversight of immigration enforcement.

The shooting is at least the second by immigration agents in Texas this year, NPR reported. In July, an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, in Houston during an attempted traffic stop; NPR reported he was not the target of the warrant agents were trying to execute. ICE made more than 50,000 arrests a month for the first time in its history in July and August, according to NBC News.