A 28-year-old Venezuelan man was shot by an ICE officer in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, and the officer was not wearing a body camera at the time, according to sources familiar with the investigation.
A DoorDash delivery driver named Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot in the upper torso in the afternoon. His death comes against the backdrop of President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration. Federal officials say Garces Perez has a deportation order.
Officer’s path to ICE
A border patrol officer who later joined the ICE agency was involved in the shooting incident. That officer came to the agency after working under U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The officer was not wearing a body camera during the shooting, according to sources with knowledge of the investigation.
Without body camera footage from the ICE officer, worries are probably going to rise. Earlier this month, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin said that all ICE officers will carry body cams by the end of September.
The Department of Homeland Security did not answer questions from reporters about why the officer did not have a body camera.
Dash cam footage released
The footage comes from two sources: a dash cam and body camera belonging to an off-duty officer, and a responding officer’s camera. Austin Police released both Tuesday. Neither recording captures the moments before the incident.
Both Mayor Kirk Watson and Police Chief Lisa Davis have said that local officers were not involved in the shooting.
Hospitalization and ICE custody
ICE took Garces Perez into custody with a final deportation order after he was hospitalized on Sunday.
Rep. Joaquin Castro of Texas said Garces Perez was sent back to a hospital on Monday after he complained of loss of feeling on his left side and a lodged bullet. Castro added that Garces Perez was transferred to ICE’s South Texas Detention Complex in Pearsall on Tuesday.
On Tuesday, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the lawyer for Garces Perez, wrote on X that her client is receiving only Tylenol and ibuprofen for pain. She also said he continues to be kept apart from others, on a simple bed, and no longer has the tablet he once used to communicate.
Garces Perez is being held by ICE, and Lincoln-Goldfinch filed a habeas petition demanding his release from that custody.
Medical condition and the habeas order
Judge Orlando Garcia of the U.S. District Court has called for an in-person hearing on the habeas claim for Sept. 30, and in doing so has stopped ICE from removing him until that date.
Since Sunday, Garces Perez’s status has been the source of dispute. Federal authorities say he is in the country without permission and that he carries a final deportation order, though the claim remains unsettled.
Garces Perez’s lawyer’s account of his condition includes:
- Receiving only Tylenol and ibuprofen for pain
- Remaining in isolation, on a flat bed
- Losing use of the tablet he previously used to communicate
- Bullets lodged in his body, with no indication of when the wounds will be treated
The habeas order prevents the government from removing him from the country until the court hands down its ruling.
What the sources say about the shooting
On Sunday afternoon, a shooting took place in Austin, and Garces Perez was shot in the upper torso.
The officer was not wearing a body camera. His service history is known: he came to ICE last year from a role as a border patrol officer within U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
| Event | Date | Location |
|---|---|---|
| Shooting | Sunday afternoon | Austin, Texas |
| Hospitalization | Sunday | Austin |
| Transfer to hospital | Monday | (not specified) |
| Transfer to ICE detention | Tuesday | Pearsall, Texas |
| Habeas hearing ordered | Sept. 30 | Court |
Political context
President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration is the backdrop for the shooting, and calls for a transparent, independent investigation and accountability have been raised in response.
Garces Perez has a deportation order from federal officials, and that is one of the key facts in the case.
What happens next
What occurred before the shooting is the central mystery, and the officer’s body camera footage is the evidence that holds the answer to it. The investigation must determine what happened before the shooting, and that footage would resolve that mystery.
Until Sept. 30, Lincoln-Goldfinch is permitted to argue his case in person, with the habeas order keeping Garces Perez in the country.
This is a developing story.
Where the paper stands
The paper backs the officer’s right to operate within the law and is against any agency or office that gathers more power beyond its proper authority. The shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez is a tragedy, and the questions raised by it are serious. But the paper is not in the business of second-guessing an officer’s actions without proof.
What matters here is the principle that power should not gather in one place, and that the people and institutions of government should not grow beyond their lawful bounds. The officer who shot Garces Perez acted within his duty, and the paper does not take sides on who deserves blame.
The officer was not wearing a body camera. That fact alone does not prove guilt or innocence. But it does raise a question about how ICE operates. The agency’s decision to leave officers without cameras, in the face of a clear risk that such footage could resolve an open question, looks like a choice to keep decisions hidden rather than open.
See the video the story is built around at CBS News.
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