Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE in Austin Says Bullet Still Lodged in Body

A Venezuelan man who was shot by a US immigration officer in Austin on Sunday says a bullet remains lodged in his body, even as he was discharged from hospital and transferred into federal custody.

Wilber Garces Perez, 28, was released from an Austin hospital hours after the shooting, according to his lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch. Speaking at a news conference on Monday, she said her client's wound was not treated while he was interrogated.

During the briefing, Lincoln-Goldfinch took a call from Garces Perez and put him on speakerphone. He said he was in considerable pain and had not received the medical attention he needed. He also said he was made to sleep on the floor after arriving at an immigration jail in South Texas.

"I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound and I have not received the medical attention I require," he said on the call. "I have a lot of pain."

The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement posted on X late Sunday that a Venezuelan immigrant with a pending deportation order was shot and wounded during an arrest operation led by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. The department described the man as stable and in federal custody pending removal.

The agency has said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations division, assisted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is examining the shooting. DHS did not immediately respond to a request for further comment on Monday.

At the news conference, Garces Perez and his lawyer gave their account of events leading up to the shooting. They said he was midway through a DoorDash delivery shift on Sunday afternoon when an unmarked sport utility vehicle sideswiped his car. He made a U-turn, after which his vehicle was struck again before he came to a stop. He was then shot.

Lincoln-Goldfinch said Garces Perez entered the United States two years ago during the Biden administration, using a government-run smartphone app to schedule an appointment at the border and seek asylum. He was later ordered deported in absentia after a hearing notice was sent to the wrong address, she said, adding that they intend to challenge the removal order.

The Austin shooting comes two months after immigration officers shot and killed a man in Houston and another man in Maine less than a week apart. In January, immigration officers killed two US citizens in Minneapolis during a crackdown in the city.

The incident has drawn condemnation from Democratic leaders in Texas. James Talarico, who has emerged as the party's strongest prospect in decades for a Senate seat in the state, called for an independent investigation into the ICE shooting.

"Previous incidents have shown that this agency cannot be trusted to report all the facts," Talarico said in a statement on X. "We need a full, independent investigation that includes the release of any and all available footage."

US Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, pressed for the immediate release of body camera footage and for accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.