ICE agent wounds man in Texas shooting: Officials

• An ICE agent shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas; he is in stable condition and in federal custody pending removal.
• The shooting occurred during a foot pursuit, prompting calls from Austin officials, including Mayor Kirk Watson, for a police investigation alongside federal agencies.
• The incident adds to concerns over ICE's use of force, with rights advocates demanding transparency and accountability following multiple fatal shootings involving ICE officers recently.

AUSTIN – An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, on Sept 20, city officials said, adding that the man was in serious but stable condition.

The man was shot in the torso and taken to a local hospital, officials told reporters at a press conference. The ICE agent shot him during a brief pursuit on foot shortly before 1pm local time, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.

Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch identified the victim to multiple news outlets as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, and posted on social media that she is representing his family.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said he was released from hospital on Sept 20 into the apparent custody of ICE.

Perez is an undocumented immigrant from Venezuela, a law enforcement source told CNN. Lincoln-Goldfinch told the Texas Tribune that her client entered the US legally.

The Department of Homeland Security said in a post on social media platform X that its Homeland Security Investigations unit is leading the investigation into the officer-involved shooting in Austin on Sept 20 with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The post said the person shot was a Venezuelan who entered the US “illegally” during the Biden administration and was subject to a final removal order, adding that the person is stable and in federal custody pending removal.

ICE is an agency within the Department of Homeland Security.

City officials did not identify the man who was shot and said they did not know the identity of the ICE agent involved. Davis said federal officials had yet to brief her, and she had few details about the incident.

The shooting is the latest in a series of incidents involving ICE, which has become the face of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown and whose actions have drawn scrutiny and calls for accountability from rights advocates.

Calls for police investigation

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said he wants city police involved in the investigation, with the additional participation of the Texas Rangers.

“From my perspective, the credibility of ICE doing some form of an investigation just by itself and excluding others would not be appropriate,” Watson said, adding that he is angry about the shooting but not surprised by it.

ICE recently started detaining more people in Austin, according to Watson and US Representative Greg Casar, a Texas Democrat.

“Just a few weeks ago, as we saw the ICE surge come to Austin, especially to North Central Austin, I and others said that ICE needed to leave before someone was shot,” said Casar, whose district includes parts of Austin.

Local TV news coverage on the afternoon of Sept 20 showed protesters gathered across the street from a blue Toyota Corolla that had sustained damage to the passenger-side door, as ICE agents stood nearby.

Rights advocates say the federal immigration crackdown under President Donald Trump violates free speech and due process rights. Trump defends his actions by saying he aims to improve domestic security.

Pattern of ICE shootings

Federal immigration officials have been involved in multiple shootings in 2026, including the killing of two US citizens in Minnesota, which sparked a widespread backlash. More than 50 people have died in ICE detention since Trump returned to office in 2025.

The killing of US citizen Renee Good in Minnesota earlier in 2026 showed that ICE cannot be trusted to provide accurate information about its shootings, Casar said.

“It is important for us to have transparency and the true facts in this case,” he added. “Unfortunately, ICE has not been truthful about shootings in other cities.” REUTERS