A Texas ICE agent shot and injured a Venezuelan migrant Sunday, triggering angry protests near the scene in Austin, according to local officials and the man’s attorney. Authorities said the migrant was reportedly in the country unlawfully.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the agent fired once, striking the man in the torso shortly before 1 p.m. after a “small foot pursuit” on the city’s north side. The man was identified by his attorney as 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez.
The shooting occurred beneath a highway overpass. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Garces Perez was taken to a nearby hospital, where he remained in serious but stable condition.
Department of Homeland Security sources told Fox News that Garces Perez is a Venezuelan national who allegedly entered the country illegally and has a final order of removal.
Officials had not released many details about the events leading up to the shooting or the ICE operation. Local authorities emphasized that the information available remained “extremely preliminary” and called for a comprehensive investigation.
“The city of Austin deserves answers,” Davis said. “We’re going to get all those questions answered, and we’ll be as transparent as we can be.”
Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the Venezuelan national’s immigration attorney, told the New York Times that she and Garces Perez’s wife had been unable to visit him. They also did not know whether he remained hospitalized or had been transferred to ICE custody at another location.
The Post contacted the Department of Homeland Security seeking additional information.
Austin leaders swiftly condemned the latest shooting involving ICE, while protesters began gathering near the site.
“I’m very angry about this,” Watson said during a Sunday afternoon news conference, criticizing the federal agency. “[But] I’m not surprised at all. It’s happened in other cities with the nature of ICE and the way ICE is doing its business these days and the chaos that we see it performing and fomenting.”
Fox News reported that dozens of demonstrators arrived at the scene soon after the shooting, with tensions escalating into clashes with authorities.
The controversial immigration agency has been linked to several fatal shootings this year.
In July, ICE officers in Houston shot and killed Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national who had become involved in an operation being conducted by the agency.
Several days later, Joan Sebastian Guerrero was shot and killed in Biddeford, Maine. Authorities said Guerrero had attempted to run over ICE agents with his vehicle.
