What Videos Show About ICE Austin Shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez - Newsweek

Multiple videos shared on social media have revealed more details about the moments surrounding the shooting of 28-year-old Venezuelan Wilber Rafael Garces Perez by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Austin on Sunday.

The incident occurred just before 1 p.m. local time near Anderson Square and Research Boulevard, in the city’s north side. Garces Perez, who was identified by immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, was delivering food for DoorDash when he was shot and wounded by a federal officer.

DoorDash confirmed to Newsweek that Garces Perez was making a delivery at the time of the shooting. The company said it is actively investigating the incident but has no additional details to share at this time. DoorDash also said all Dashers are independent contractors, not employees.

It is unclear whether Garces Perez was the target of an immigration operation. Lincoln-Goldfinch told NBC that Garces Perez entered the country lawfully through a parole program and was an asylum seeker. She did not comment on his current immigration status.

However, a Department of Homeland Security (DHS) spokesperson told Newsweek that Garces Perez was an "illegal alien" who "illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal."

Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said during a news conference on Sunday that the city’s police officers were not involved in the shooting. and had heard there was a “small foot pursuit” ahead of the shooting, though she admitted to not having the full details on the incident yet.

But videos filmed by members of the media and bystanders that day reveal some of the details of what happened.

An Austin resident, Heidi Ann Clark, was driving by the scene and livestreaming around 12:50 p.m. local time when she was suddenly distracted by the sound of a fast-moving vehicle slamming on its brakes on the other side of the road. Turning the camera to the incident, the woman captured an unmarked SUV stopping near a blue Toyota Corolla believed to belong to Garces Perez.

An ICE agent can be seen coming out of the SUV and running toward the Toyota Corolla while holding a firearm. While a siren is blasting in the background, the sounds of three shots being fired can be heard shortly after the officer leaves the vehicle. The blue car is still slowly rolling but stops when the officer approaches.

Based on an analysis of Google Maps images, Clark’s video appears to have been filmed from the other side of the bridge where the shooting took place.

A second video shared by Austin resident Celena Ramos shows the scene after Austin Police Department cars and officers had arrived and cordoned off the area.

In another video taken by a bystander and shared with Newsweek by the office of Austin Council Member Mike Siegel, the video appears to show the aftermath of the shooting.

An agent is seen exiting a black vehicle and approaching the car while witnesses confront authorities, repeatedly asking why the man had been shot and urging medical help. The wounded driver remains in his seat, grimacing and clutching his chest as onlookers shout that he is dying and question why no ambulance has arrived.

As the agent stands near the vehicle holding a phone, witnesses repeatedly confront him, asking, “Hey guys, why you do that to him?” and “You’re not supposed to be doing that to people.”

The wounded driver is seen grimacing in his seat while bystanders shout, “He’s dying, my friend, he’s dying because you shoot him,” and demand medical assistance, asking, “You have an ambulance coming?” and “Too many police and no ambulance. Man, he need help.”

After police arrive and ICE agents leave, an officer is heard saying, “He shot him,” before another asks an agent, “Do you have EMS coming?”

Throughout the video, frustrated bystanders repeatedly tell authorities, “We pay taxes,” “We working for you guys,” and “Why you do that?” while another man remarks, “America is different.”

After police arrive and ICE agents leave, officers discuss the shooting, with one asking whether EMS is en route. An officer then retrieves medical supplies, cuts away the man’s shirt, and reveals what appears to be a gunshot wound to his left shoulder, with blood running down his back, while bystanders continue expressing anger and frustration.

In an update issued on Sunday night, Lincoln-Goldfinch said that Garces Perez’s wife was not allowed to see her husband at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas, where he had been taken. She said the two women learned he was in stable condition only after Austin Mayor Kirk Watson arrived at the hospital to ask about the man.

The attorney said they were told he has likely been brought to a federal detention center.

The incident, which took place only a few months after an ICE agent shot and killed a 52-year-old Mexican national, Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, in Houston, has angered Austin officials. Watson, a Democrat, said that he was "very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE," adding, however, that he was not surprised.

Mentioning the “rogue nature of ICE,” the mayor called for the Austin police to be involved in the investigation, saying he wants them to provide "clear, third-party eyes" in the process.

U.S. Representative Greg Casar, who represents Texas’ 35th Congressional District, which includes East Austin, called on social media to prevent the removal of Garces Perez from the country.

“If ICE deports him, the key witness to their shooting disappears. He must not be removed from this country, and he must receive proper medical care,” he wrote on X.

A DHS spokesperson called Garces Perez an "illegal alien" in a statement to Newsweek, saying: "Homeland Security Investigations, with the assistance of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is leading the investigation into the officer involved [in the] shooting of an illegal alien from Venezuela, who illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal, during a law enforcement operation today in Austin, TX.

"The illegal alien’s condition is stable, and he is in federal custody pending removal. This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information becomes available."

Newsweek’s reporters and editors used Martyn, our AI assistant, to produce this story. Learn more about Martyn here.

Contact Newsweek editors on this story: Jason Lemon and Gray R. Thomas