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An ICE officer shot a man in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, prompting a crowd of angry demonstrators to gather near the scene, hurl obscenities and clash with authorities.
Department of Homeland Security (DHS) sources confirmed to Fox News that the man shot by the ICE officer is an illegal immigrant from Venezuela with a final order of removal.
The man was identified by his lawyer as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said her client entered the U.S. lawfully.
“We are actively working to obtain additional information and clarify the circumstances surrounding the matter. We do not want to speculate or provide information that has not yet been confirmed. What we do understand is that he previously held a valid work permit and that, based on the information available to us, he entered the United States lawfully,” Lincoln-Goldfinch said in a statement to Fox News.
Video from the scene showed people holding up their phones and carrying flags as the commotion unfolded. Police said preliminary information indicated the man was shot once in the torso during a brief foot pursuit involving ICE. He was hospitalized in serious but stable condition.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz confirmed ICE was involved in the shooting and provided what they repeatedly stressed were preliminary details during a Sunday afternoon news conference.
Austin-Travis County EMS was notified of the shooting at approximately 12:56 p.m. and arrived in less than five minutes, Luckritz said. The adult man was taken from the scene within nine minutes and transported to a local trauma center in serious but stable condition after being shot once in the torso.
Davis said preliminary information indicated there was a brief foot pursuit before the shooting, but cautioned that she had not yet been briefed by federal authorities.
‘SQUAD’ MEMBER CALLS DHS ‘GREATEST THREAT TO OUR SAFETY’ AFTER ICE-INVOLVED SHOOTING
ICE agents gather near the scene of a shooting in Austin, Texas. (KTBC)
“From what I’m hearing, there was a small foot pursuit,” Davis said. “But again, this is all very preliminary.”
Watson stressed that the information available was “extremely preliminary.” He said city officials wanted to make themselves available as quickly as possible when they had information, but warned against rushing to conclusions based on early claims circulating on TikTok, X and other social media platforms.
Watson added that the Austin Police Department was not involved in the shooting and only assisted with traffic control. APD’s Special Investigations Unit and the Texas Rangers will work together to investigate the incident, Davis said.
“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.”
A crowd of people gather near the scene of an ICE shooting in Austin, Texas. (KTBC)
Watson said he was “very angry” and “extremely unhappy” about the shooting, while accusing ICE of creating fear and chaos in Austin and other cities. He also questioned the agency’s ability to investigate itself without local involvement.
Lincoln-Goldfinch, said her client was released from the hospital and is believed to now be in ICE custody.
“Hospital attorneys at Dell Seton Medical Center have confirmed that Wilber Rafael Garces Perez has been released from the hospital into what we believe is ICE custody. After he was held for approximately six hours, officers declined to provide his wife with meaningful information about his status or circumstances,” she said in her statement. “We are deeply concerned that his wife and family have not been permitted to see him and have not received a meaningful update regarding his current condition or whereabouts.”
“Our immediate concern is ensuring that his family receives accurate and timely information and that appropriate access and communication are provided while the matter is being addressed,” she continued.
ICE AGENTS IN FATAL HOUSTON SHOOTING WERE NOT WEARING BODY CAMERAS, SOURCES SAY
Rep. Greg Casar participates in a public forum on the use of force by Department of Homeland Security agents at the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., on Feb. 3. (Aaron Schwartz/Getty Images)
Rep. Greg Casar, D-Texas, claimed in a post on X that “ICE has shot a person in Austin this morning” and called for a full, independent investigation and the immediate release of body-camera footage.
“Over and over, ICE has shot people and then lied about what happened,” Casar wrote. “We will demand truth, transparency and accountability.”
During the news conference, Casar called the incident part of a “disturbing pattern” and said ICE’s conduct “has got to stop.”
“They’ve arrested 5-year-olds … and now someone has been shot,” Casar said. “This has got to stop.”
Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, offered a sharply different reaction, saying he had been told the “shooter” was a Venezuelan national in the country illegally with a final order of removal.
“The war is the one being waged against Americans through mass legal & illegal immigration,” Roy wrote.
The Austin investigation comes amid heightened tensions over federal immigration enforcement operations across the country.
ANTI-ICE PROTESTERS CLASH WITH AGENTS OUTSIDE NEW JERSEY DETENTION CENTER AS GOV SHERRILL DENIED ENTRY
Authorities gather near a car in the area where ICE shot a person in Austin, Texas. (KTBC)
Clashes erupted outside New Jersey’s Delaney Hall immigration detention center in May after protesters defied a state police order to move to a designated demonstration area. Newark Mayor Ras Baraka later criticized the tactics used by state troopers sent to secure the facility, which had become the focus of frequent demonstrations.
Federal immigration operations also drew national scrutiny in Minnesota following the fatal shootings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis. Good was killed by an ICE agent in early January after authorities said she tried to use her vehicle to run over federal officers, while Pretti was fatally shot by agents on Jan. 24 as he recorded federal officers.
Fireworks shooting off at anti-ICE protest in North Austin, Texas. (Credit: Alec Nolan/Fox 7 Austin)
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Fox News Digital reached out to ICE and the Texas Department of Public Safety for additional information and comment.
