Austin ICE Shooting Leaves Venezuelan Delivery Driver Wounded and in Custody
Venezuela · Migration
Key Facts
- —What happened An ICE officer shot Venezuelan DoorDash driver Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, in North Austin on Sunday 20 September 2026.
- —His condition Emergency services said he was shot in the torso, in serious but stable condition. He was discharged into ICE custody.
- —What the government says DHS says he entered illegally under the Biden administration, had a final order of removal and is held pending removal.
- —What his side says His lawyer says that, on the information available, he entered legally; she later said she did not know his current status.
- —Who is investigating Homeland Security Investigations, an ICE branch, leads with FBI help. Austin police and the Texas Rangers are also investigating.
- —The catch No charges have been announced, the officer is unnamed, and no footage from federal agents has been released.
An immigration officer shot a 28-year-old Venezuelan during a delivery in Texas. He is now in federal detention, and the government and his lawyer tell very different stories.
The Austin ICE shooting on Sunday has left a 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver wounded and in federal detention. It has also produced two sharply different accounts of who he is.
An officer of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), the US deportation agency, shot him in North Austin, Texas, on 20 September 2026. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, says its own investigators are leading the inquiry.
What happened on Anderson Square
Emergency crews were alerted at about 12:56 p.m. Central time, said Robert Luckritz, chief of Austin-Travis County EMS. The scene was the 8000 block of Anderson Square, near Research Boulevard.
At about 12:50 p.m., ICE asked the Texas Department of Public Safety, the state police, to help chase a blue Toyota Corolla. Spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said the shooting happened before state troopers arrived.
Luckritz said the man was shot once in the torso and reached hospital in serious but stable condition. Austin police chief Lisa Davis said her officers were not involved.
Neither the police nor the federal government named him. His lawyer, Austin immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, identified him as Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez.
DoorDash, the food-delivery app, confirmed to NBC News that he was making a delivery at the time. The company said it was investigating.
The government’s account
The Department of Homeland Security, known as DHS, gave its version in a statement on social media on Sunday. It did not name him.
DHS described him as “an illegal alien from Venezuela” with “a final order of removal”. It said he “illegally entered our country under the Biden administration”.
“The illegal alien’s condition is stable, and he is in federal custody pending removal,” the statement added. It said the shooting happened during a law enforcement operation.
Law enforcement sources told ABC News the operation was targeted and that he was believed to be its target. NBC News reported that DHS gave no information on whether the officer wore a body camera.
What his lawyer, his wife and witnesses say
Lincoln-Goldfinch told NBC News he is an asylum seeker who entered through a parole programme. In a statement quoted by CNN, she said he previously held a valid work permit and, on available information, entered legally.
She first said, in an Instagram video, that she believed he had no criminal history and no final removal order. She later told the Associated Press she did not know his current immigration status.
His wife, who has legal status, says he has no criminal record, according to the lawyer. She said she was unaware of any removal order, MercoPress reported.
The lawyer said he phoned his wife after being hit, “yelling in agony, and the call cut off”. She said he was discharged into ICE custody about four hours after the shooting.
On Monday she told NBC News he was being held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, Texas. She said a bullet was still lodged in his back.
A video obtained by ABC News shows a wound on his back as officers cut his shirt. In it, he says in Spanish that he was shot because he did not brake.
Mike Siegel, an Austin city council member who went to the scene, gave ABC News another version. He said an ICE Ford Expedition “rammed into the side of a blue Toyota sedan”, and an officer then “fired multiple shots”.
Chief Davis said she had heard of a “small foot pursuit” before the shooting, but called that preliminary. A social media video verified by NBC News captures at least three shots as a person approaches the sedan.
Who is investigating the Austin ICE shooting
Homeland Security Investigations leads the federal inquiry, with FBI assistance. CBS News noted that this branch belongs to ICE itself, a departure from the FBI’s traditional role.
Austin police and the Texas Rangers, the state’s senior criminal investigators, plan their own inquiries, the Texas Tribune reported. The Travis County district attorney’s office, led by José Garza, asked to be among “co-equal partners in the investigation”.
“It is possible that this incident included violations of state law,” the prosecutors’ statement said. No charges have been announced, and the officer has not been publicly identified.
Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said he was “very angry and extremely disappointed”. Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat for Austin, warned that “if ICE deports him, the key witness to their shooting disappears”.
About 100 to 150 protesters gathered at the scene on Sunday, the Austin American-Statesman reported. State troopers fired pepper balls toward the crowd, and some demonstrators threw rocks.
The Venezuelan reaction
Veppex, an association of politically persecuted Venezuelans in exile, demanded an independent and transparent investigation in a statement reported on Monday. It also asked for footage to be released and for his family to be told his condition.
“Immigration enforcement cannot be carried out without oversight, accountability and respect for life and due process,” the group said in Spanish. No reaction from the government of Venezuela’s interim president, Delcy Rodríguez, had been reported by Monday.
LULAC, the largest Latino civil-rights organisation in the US, urged Congress to set up independent oversight of immigration enforcement.
Why Venezuelans in the US feel exposed
About 1.2 million people of Venezuelan origin lived in the US in 2024, according to the Pew Research Center. That is 119% more than in 2019, with almost 200,000 in Texas.
Pew estimates that more than half of Venezuelan immigrants now lack legal authorisation. A majority of them previously had a legal status that shielded them from deportation, most through Temporary Protected Status (TPS).
The administration of President Donald Trump ended both Venezuelan TPS designations in 2025. The Supreme Court let the 2023 termination take effect on 3 October 2025.
The 2021 designation ended on 7 November 2025, according to US Citizenship and Immigration Services. The administration also cancelled a parole programme covering Venezuelans that year.
More than 615,000 Venezuelans have lost TPS protection, Pew calculated in August 2026. It said protection for the remaining Venezuelan holders is scheduled to expire in October.
A court order of 30 May 2025 keeps those holders’ papers valid until 2 October 2026, according to USCIS.
ICE made more than 50,000 arrests a month in July and August 2026, a first in its history, the Associated Press reported. In July, an ICE officer in Houston fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican.
For now, the lawyer says the family’s first demand is simple: to see him and learn how he is. Casar has asked DHS for a briefing by 28 September 2026.
More: Venezuela coverage, every day from The Rio Times.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who was shot in the Austin ICE shooting?
His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, identified him as Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan. DoorDash confirmed he was making a delivery for the app when he was shot on 20 September 2026. Neither the Austin police nor the Department of Homeland Security released his name.
What does the US government say happened?
The Department of Homeland Security said he entered the country illegally under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal. It said he was shot during a law enforcement operation, that his condition is stable and that he is in federal custody pending removal.
Who is investigating?
Homeland Security Investigations, a branch of ICE, is leading the federal inquiry with help from the FBI. Austin police and the Texas Rangers are conducting their own investigations. The Travis County district attorney’s office has asked to be an equal partner and for access to federal evidence.
What happened to Venezuelans’ protected status?
The Trump administration ended both Venezuelan designations for Temporary Protected Status in 2025. The Supreme Court allowed the 2023 termination to take effect on 3 October 2025, and the 2021 designation ended on 7 November 2025. Pew counts more than 615,000 Venezuelans who have lost the protection.
Sources: ABC News with the DHS statement, NBC News on custody in Pearsall, The Texas Tribune on the investigations, KUT on witnesses at the scene, Austin American-Statesman on the scene and protests, Associated Press on the lawyer’s account, CBS News on the investigating agency, FOX 7 Austin with the district attorney’s statement, Time on Greg Casar’s letter, MercoPress on the diverging accounts, AlbertoNews on the Veppex statement, Pew Research Center on Venezuelans in the US, Pew Research Center on TPS terminations, USCIS on Venezuela’s TPS designations
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error
Read More from The Rio Times