Venezuelan man shot by ICE says bullet remains lodged in his back
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Illustrative view of downtown Austin, Texas, at night. The image is not related to the reported shooting. |
AUSTIN, Texas — September 22, 2026
A 28-year-old Venezuelan man who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Austin, Texas, said he remains in immigration detention with a bullet lodged in his back and is not receiving the medical care he needs. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez made the comments by phone during a news conference held by his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch.
Perez said in Spanish that he was in pain and had been forced to sleep on the floor at the detention facility. His attorney said he was being held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center, about 130 miles southwest of Austin, where agents were questioning him.
Perez said he was working as a DoorDash delivery driver on Sunday when his car was sideswiped by federal agents. He said the agents did not identify themselves or use lights or a siren before he was shot while still inside his vehicle. Austin police, however, said he had fled from agents, while another account cited by The New York Times said agents identified themselves and told him he was being arrested before he allegedly drove away.
The circumstances leading to the shooting remain disputed. Perez's attorney said the account reported by the New York Times did not match what her client had told her, while federal authorities have not publicly provided a detailed account of the shooting. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, did not respond to requests for comment in the source report.
Perez said he was taken to a hospital after the shooting but was released within about four hours. He said a doctor told him immigration agents were in a hurry to transfer him to detention. Other reporting said hospital staff told him the bullet would not be removed because it was too close to his spine.
DHS said after the shooting that Perez was in the United States without legal status and had a final order of removal. His attorney has disputed aspects of that account, saying Perez entered the United States through the CBP One process, later applied for asylum and received a work permit. She said an immigration court notice was sent to a previous address, causing him to miss a hearing and resulting in a removal order being issued without his presence.
The shooting has prompted protests and calls for further investigation in Austin. Local and federal officials have sought more information about the circumstances of the shooting, while DHS and the FBI are involved in the federal investigation.
The incident comes amid increased immigration enforcement in Austin and across the United States. The case remains under investigation, and the competing accounts of what happened before the shooting have not been resolved publicly.
