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ICE Shoots Man in Austin Doing Food Delivery, Spurring Protests

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21.09.2026

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An immigration enforcement agent shot and injured a man in Austin on Sunday, city officials said.

Police nor the U.S. Department of Homeland Security identified the man. But Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an Austin immigration lawyer, said she was hired to represent the man and that he was released from the hospital and into federal custody Sunday evening.

She identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, of Venezuela, and said he had a valid work permit and entered the U.S. legally. The attorney said he was doing a DoorDash delivery when the shooting happened, and the man subsequently called his wife from inside the vehicle.

In a statement issued late Sunday night, DHS officials said Homeland Security Investigations — one of the department branches — would probe the shooting, with support from the FBI. Without naming Garces Perez, the statement said he entered the country illegally during the Biden administration but did not provide additional information.

Former President Joe Biden’s administration granted temporary immigration benefits to citizens from a number of countries who could not return home safely, including those from Venezuela. President Donald Trump’s administration has erased those protections and targeted those people.

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DHS officials also said the shooting happened during a law enforcement operation but did not detail how the man came onto their radar. The department added that his condition has stabilized, before suggesting that federal authorities are seeking to deport him.

Dozens of protesters gathered at the site of the shooting throughout the day, angrily shouting at law enforcement officers after what was at least the third instance of an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shooting a person in Texas since March 2025. Austin’s mayor said the shooting came amid increased ICE operations in the city in the recent few weeks.

On Sunday afternoon, an ICE agent shot a man after a “small foot pursuit,” Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis and other city officials said during a news conference. The man was wounded by a single gunshot in the upper torso, local officials said.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said the family hadn’t “been permitted to see him and have not received a meaningful update regarding his current status or circumstances. 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.”

The scene of the shooting at times became intense. Dozens of Austin police officers were at the scene near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square. Just before 6 p.m., officers shot pepper ball-like projectiles at the crowd after some........

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