ICE Agent Shoots Venezuelan DoorDash Driver in Austin as Conflicting Accounts Raise Questions Over Federal Immigration Operation

ICE Agent Shoots Venezuelan DoorDash Driver in Austin as Conflicting Accounts Raise Questions Over Federal Immigration Operation

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez Says Unmarked Vehicles Rammed His Car Before an Agent Shot Him; Federal Authorities Say He Was Subject to a Final Removal Order

AUSTIN, Texas — A Venezuelan asylum seeker working as a DoorDash delivery driver was shot and seriously wounded by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer during an immigration operation in Austin, setting off protests and demands for greater transparency as sharply conflicting accounts emerge over what happened in the moments before the federal agent opened fire.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was shot Sunday afternoon in North Austin after federal immigration agents encountered him while he was making deliveries. Austin officials said Perez suffered a gunshot wound to the upper torso and was initially hospitalized in serious but stable condition. He was subsequently released from the hospital into federal immigration custody and transported to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, where his attorneys said he continued experiencing significant pain with a bullet lodged near his spine. His attorney later said Perez was returned to a hospital for additional treatment.

The central facts surrounding the shooting remain disputed. The Department of Homeland Security says Perez was unlawfully present in the United States and subject to a final order of removal, while reporting based on law enforcement sources indicates agents were attempting to take him into custody when the encounter escalated. Perez, however, says agents in unmarked vehicles struck his blue Toyota Camry and opened fire after he attempted to pull over, an account his attorneys say raises serious questions about whether he initially understood that the people pursuing him were federal officers.

Austin police were not involved in the immigration operation or the shooting. Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the use of force with assistance from the FBI, while Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has called for an independent investigation and greater involvement from local authorities. The incident has rapidly become the focus of protests and broader scrutiny of federal immigration enforcement in the city.

A DoorDash Delivery Turns Into a Federal Immigration Operation

Perez was working for DoorDash when he encountered federal immigration agents shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday. His attorney and DoorDash confirmed that he was making deliveries at the time. According to reporting based on law enforcement sources, federal agents identified Perez and determined that he was subject to a final removal order, but what happened immediately afterward remains contested.

Perez said during a news conference conducted by telephone from federal detention that vehicles he did not recognize began surrounding and striking his Toyota Camry. Speaking through a translator, he said he made a U-turn beneath a highway overpass after an unmarked SUV struck his vehicle. Perez said the federal vehicles then activated emergency lights and sirens, and he attempted to find a safer place to stop rather than remaining in traffic beneath the overpass. He said an agent told him he could not move farther and that he was subsequently shot.

His attorneys contend Perez did not initially understand that the people confronting him were immigration officers. Other accounts differ. Reporting citing law-enforcement sources says federal agents identified themselves and attempted to arrest Perez before he tried to flee, while Austin police initially described the incident as involving a brief foot pursuit.

Exactly what threat, if any, the ICE officer believed existed when the shot was fired remains one of the most important unanswered questions. Publicly available accounts have not yet established the complete sequence of events immediately preceding the shooting, and federal authorities have released relatively little detail explaining the officer’s decision to use deadly force.

Perez Says a Bullet Remained Lodged Near His Spine

The controversy intensified after Perez was released from the hospital into federal immigration custody despite continuing injuries from the shooting. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he was transported roughly two hours from Austin to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. During a telephone appearance at a news conference Monday, Perez described severe pain and said doctors had told him the bullet remained lodged near his spine and was too dangerous to remove. He also alleged that after leaving the hospital he was held temporarily under conditions that included sleeping on a concrete floor.

His legal team subsequently said his condition required additional hospital treatment, and Perez was returned to a hospital. The circumstances have raised questions not only about the shooting itself but about the medical treatment and detention conditions provided to a person wounded by a federal officer during an enforcement action. Perez remains in federal immigration custody as his attorneys challenge his removal case and seek additional information about the shooting.

His Immigration History Is More Complicated Than a Simple Legal or Illegal Label

Perez’s immigration history has also become a disputed element of the case. DHS has described Perez as a Venezuelan national unlawfully present in the United States who was subject to a final order of removal, while his attorneys say he entered the country through the federal government’s CBP One appointment process in 2024, was processed by immigration authorities, applied for asylum and subsequently obtained authorization to work while his immigration proceedings continued.

According to his attorneys, Perez later missed an immigration court hearing because notice of the proceeding was mailed to a previous address despite his efforts to update his address with the court. His absence ultimately resulted in an in absentia removal order, which his lawyers say he did not know had been entered. Those accounts are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Being processed and allowed into the United States while an immigration case proceeds does not guarantee a person the right to remain indefinitely, and an individual who initially enters through an authorized process can later become subject to a final removal order following immigration court proceedings. Perez’s attorneys are now challenging the circumstances surrounding that order while simultaneously demanding answers about the federal agent’s use of force.

Unmarked Vehicles Become a Central Question

Perez’s assertion that the officers approached in unmarked vehicles could become one of the most important elements of the investigation. Federal immigration agencies routinely use unmarked vehicles during enforcement operations, but when officers conduct stops or attempted arrests in public traffic, questions can arise over when and how a person being pursued understands that the individuals surrounding the vehicle are law enforcement officers. Perez says an unmarked SUV initially struck his vehicle before emergency lights and sirens were activated. His account therefore differs in an important respect from reports indicating federal agents identified themselves and told him he was under arrest before he attempted to flee.

Determining which account is supported by physical evidence could depend heavily on surveillance footage, cellphone video, vehicle damage, federal radio communications, officer statements and any body-worn or vehicle-camera footage that exists. Those materials could establish when emergency lights or sirens were activated, when officers identified themselves, how Perez responded, whether federal vehicles intentionally collided with his car and precisely what occurred immediately before the agent fired. No publicly released evidence has yet provided a definitive chronology of those crucial seconds.

Austin Officials Demand Transparency

The shooting triggered an immediate reaction from Austin officials because the operation occurred inside the city without participation from the Austin Police Department. Mayor Kirk Watson called for transparency and an independent investigation, saying local residents deserve to know what happened and why federal agents fired. Austin police emphasized that their officers were not involved in the immigration enforcement action. Local officers responded after the shooting and helped secure the scene, while the federal investigation is being led by Homeland Security Investigations with assistance from the FBI.

Protesters subsequently gathered near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square, criticizing ICE tactics and demanding information about why the agent opened fire. The demonstration later became confrontational, with police saying objects including rocks and water bottles were thrown at officers; Austin police deployed pepper-ball-type projectiles as officers prepared to leave the area.

The broader political debate surrounding immigration enforcement has intensified as federal authorities dramatically increase arrests nationwide, but the legal and investigative question surrounding this particular incident is narrower: whether the federal officer’s use of deadly force complied with applicable law and federal use of force policy under the circumstances confronting the officer at the moment the shot was fired. That determination cannot responsibly be made from the conflicting public accounts currently available.

DoorDash Confirms Perez Was Working When He Was Shot

DoorDash confirmed that Perez was making deliveries through its platform when the encounter occurred, transforming what began as an ordinary workday into an immigration arrest and officer-involved shooting. Perez’s attorneys say he possessed employment authorization, and no reporting to date indicates federal agents approached him because of anything connected to his DoorDash work; authorities were apparently seeking him because of his immigration status and removal order.

The circumstances nevertheless illustrate how intensified immigration enforcement increasingly intersects with ordinary workplaces, neighborhoods, parking lots and public roads far from the southern border. Texas Tribune reporting has documented a substantial increase in street-level immigration arrests within ICE’s San Antonio area of responsibility, which includes Austin.

Investigators Now Face Conflicting Accounts

At the center of the case are accounts that cannot yet be reconciled. The government’s position is that Perez was subject to a final removal order and that federal agents were conducting an immigration enforcement operation. Law-enforcement-source reporting indicates agents identified themselves and that Perez attempted to flee after being told he was under arrest.

Perez says he was driving for DoorDash when an unmarked vehicle began striking his Camry, that he initially did not understand who was pursuing him and that he attempted to pull over before an officer shot him. Austin police initially added another element by describing a brief foot pursuit, although that account does not by itself resolve what occurred before the gunfire.

The physical and digital evidence will therefore be critical. Investigators will need to establish the precise chronology of the encounter, including how agents approached Perez, when they identified themselves, whether Perez attempted to escape, how the vehicles collided, where the officer was positioned, what Perez’s vehicle was doing when the gun was fired and what prompted the agent to conclude that deadly force was necessary. Until those facts are established, definitive claims that the shooting was either justified or unjustified would go beyond the evidence currently available.

The Shooting Comes During Intensified Immigration Enforcement

The Austin shooting occurred against the backdrop of substantially expanded federal immigration enforcement. Recent reporting has documented sharp increases in ICE street arrests, including within the San Antonio enforcement region encompassing Austin, where federal immigration operations have become increasingly visible in neighborhoods, businesses and public spaces. The Austin incident is also at least the third shooting involving ICE officers in Texas since March 2025, according to Texas Tribune reporting. That history has intensified calls from local officials, immigration advocates and community members for greater transparency surrounding federal use of force incidents.

The larger immigration debate, however, does not resolve the specific facts of this shooting. Investigators still must determine whether the officer who fired at Perez faced an imminent threat or other circumstances that justified deadly force, whether Perez knew he was being confronted by federal agents and whether the tactics used during the attempted arrest contributed to the escalation.

Perez began Sunday afternoon working as a DoorDash driver. By the end of the encounter, he had been shot, hospitalized and placed into federal immigration custody. He says he initially did not know who was pursuing him and attempted to stop after realizing federal officers were involved. Federal authorities say he was subject to a final removal order, while law-enforcement-source reporting indicates agents identified themselves and that he attempted to flee.

The evidence capable of resolving those competing accounts has not yet been fully released. Until it is, the most consequential questions remain unanswered: why the ICE officer fired, what the officer perceived immediately before pulling the trigger, whether Perez understood he was being stopped by federal agents, what role the vehicle pursuit played in the escalation and whether the shooting complied with federal use of force standards.

Sources & Further Reading

• ABC News — Man Shot by ICE Speaks Out, Says Bullet Is Still in Him — Reporting on Perez’s account, medical condition, federal custody and the disputed circumstances surrounding the shooting.
• The Texas Tribune — Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE Says He Tried to Pull Over Before Officers Fired — Detailed reporting on the vehicle encounter, CBP One entry, asylum application, work authorization and missed immigration hearing.
• The Texas Tribune — ICE Officer Shoots and Injures Man in Austin — Initial reporting on the shooting, Austin officials’ response, protests and the federal investigation.
• Reuters — Man Shot by ICE in Texas Says He Is Detained With Bullet in His Back — Independent reporting on Perez’s injuries, detention and competing accounts of the encounter.
• Reuters — ICE Agent Wounds Man in Austin, Texas — Reporting on the shooting, federal investigation and calls from Austin officials for outside scrutiny.
• Associated Press — Man Shot by ICE Returned to Hospital, Attorney Says — Follow-up reporting on Perez’s medical treatment, immigration history and return to the hospital.
• Associated Press — ICE Officer Shoots and Wounds Man in Austin — Reporting on the initial shooting, removal order, protests and demands for an independent investigation.