An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot an immigrant from Venezuela within the torso in Austin, Texas, native authorities stated, the newest violent episode to happen because the Trump administration pushes to extend deportations.
State, native and federal legislation enforcement officers have been investigating the episode that occurred below a freeway overpass in Northwest Austin. A blue Toyota Corolla punctured by bullets was pulled to the aspect of the highway. Yellow police tape and state trooper autos blocked entry to the scene.
The realm, residence to many Latino residents, has seen a latest surge in immigration exercise, Austin metropolis officers stated at a information convention on Sunday afternoon.
Metropolis officers stated earlier that the person was in critical however secure situation at a hospital.
The injured man, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, is a 28-year-old immigrant from Venezuela, stated Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, an immigration lawyer who stated on the hospital that she is now representing him and his household.
Ms. Lincoln-Goldfinch stated that she and Mr. Garces Perez’s spouse weren’t allowed to see him on the hospital. Afterward Sunday night, representatives from the hospital advised them that Mr. Garces Perez had been launched hours earlier into ICE custody. Ms. Lincoln-Goldfinch added that they didn’t know the place he was.
Different particulars about what led to the capturing remained murky.
It was unclear whether or not the particular person had been the goal of an immigration operation, however Lisa Davis, the Austin police chief, stated that the capturing had occurred after a “small foot pursuit.” Officers with the Division of Homeland Safety and ICE didn’t instantly return requests for remark.
“I’m very indignant about this,” Mayor Kirk Watson of Austin stated on the information convention. However, he added, “I’m not stunned in any respect. It’s occurred in different cities with the character of ICE and the best way ICE is doing its enterprise lately and the chaos that we see it performing and fomenting.”
Mr. Watson and different metropolis officers referred to as on federal authorities to be open and truthful in regards to the capturing. Data initially reported by D.H.S. in different shootings has, in some instances, confirmed to be inaccurate.
“There’s a motive that folks in Austin and throughout the nation are deeply suspicious of something that ICE has stated, and there’s a motive that persons are hurting proper now after they hear about this having occurred of their metropolis, even earlier than they know all of the information,” stated Rep. Greg Casar, who represents the world in Congress.
The violence in Austin was the second Texas ICE capturing in latest months. President Trump has intensified his deportation effort with extra focused operations, which magnetize much less consideration, since two civilians have been shot and killed throughout a crackdown in Minneapolis in January.
In July, an ICE agent in Houston shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo within the stomach whereas he was on his method to work at a development website with three different males. Mr. Araujo, a father, a husband and enterprise proprietor who had moved to america 35 years in the past from Mexico died at a hospital.
Federal officers later stated that Mr. Araujo had not been the operation’s meant goal.
Lower than per week after Mr. Araujo’s demise, Johan Sebastián Durán Guerrero, a 25-year-old Colombian immigrant, was shot and killed by an ICE agent whereas he headed to work in Biddeford, Maine. Neither the Division of Homeland Safety nor ICE has stated publicly whether or not he was the goal of an enforcement operation.
Greater than 20 folks have been shot by federal immigration brokers since Mr. Trump took workplace in January 2025. Six folks, together with three U.S. residents, have been killed in these shootings, practically all of which concerned officers firing at folks in autos.
Months earlier than the deadly shootings of U.S. residents in Minneapolis, a 23-year-old American man named Ruben Ray Martinez was shot and killed by an ICE officer in South Padre Island, Texas.
This can be a creating story. Test again for updates.
Miriam Jordan contributed reporting.