This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune. The Texas Tribune is a nonprofit, nonpartisan media organization that informs Texans — and engages with them — about public policy, politics, government and statewide issues. 

Austin man shot by ICE agent charged with assault, resisting arrest

by Zach Leggio, The Texas Tribune
September 29, 2026

Federal prosecutors have charged the Austin man an ICE agent shot earlier this month with a single count of resisting and assaulting a federal officer, according to court documents.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan national, was shot by an ICE officer in Austin on Sept. 20. He was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center, where he was released and taken into ICE custody three hours later with the bullet remaining in his back. He has since remained at a detention center in Pearsall.

Federal prosecutors say that Garces Perez was first pulled over by ICE officers after they had observed him exiting a restaurant and identified him as having a final order of removal.

The officers identified themselves as immigration agents and Garces Perez handed them his Texas driver license, the court documents say. One officer was wearing a body worn camera that captured the incident. The other officer, the one that eventually shot Garces Perez, was not wearing a camera. 

According to Garces Perez’s statement to investigators, he knew that he would be detained, so he asked to park in a different location. The officers and Garces Perez give conflicting statements over when emergency lights were activated and if the officers struck Garces Perez’s vehicle.

Garces Perez disregarded the officers’ commands to exit the vehicle and he fled the scene. As he pulled away from the scene, his driver’s side mirror hit one of the officers in the torso, according to the criminal complaint. 

After a brief vehicle chase, one ICE officer claims that Garces Perez attempted to strike him with his car, which is when the officer, standing outside the vehicle, shot into the car and struck Garces Perez in the back. 

President Donald Trump won a second term in 2024 vowing to crack down on immigration. During his second administration, immigration agents, who often are masked, have shot at least two dozen people. At least six, including three U.S. citizens, have died. Many of the shootings involved agents firing at people in moving vehicles, which law enforcement experts said is typically prohibited or discouraged by local police. 

The court documents outlining the criminal case against Garces Perez do not name the two agents involved, but refer to them by the initials “L.G.” and “D.F.” 

The federal government has withheld the identification for most immigration agents involved in shootings since Trump returned to office. The growing tally of deaths at the hands of anonymous federal agents has ignited outcries by Democrats, the victims’ relatives and residents to identify them. On Monday, The Texas Tribune identified the federal immigration agent who witnesses say fired through an open van window and killed 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston in July.

Since the Austin shooting, several members of Congress and advocacy groups have called for Garces Perez’s release from detention due to his medical needs, which they claim are not being adequately addressed by ICE. U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, D-Austin, visited Garces Perez last Wednesday and described him as in high spirits but in pain and in need of surgery.

“This person needs a doctor, not a deportation or a detention center,” Casar said in a news conference last week.

Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garces Perez’s lead attorney, was not immediately available for comment Tuesday. She previously said he entered the U.S. legally in 2024 via the CBP One app and applied for asylum. Records show that he had received a removal order in August 2025, which Lincoln-Goldfinch says was sent to the wrong address. A motion to reconsider was denied in July 2026. The attorney added that his work permit expired in December 2025.

Garces Perez is set to appear in court on Wednesday in San Antonio after a judge temporarily halted his deportation last week. 

A detention hearing is set for Friday, Oct. 2 regarding the new criminal charges. If convicted, he faces up to 20 years in prison, according to the Department of Justice.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment beyond a press release announcing the charges.

This article first appeared on The Texas Tribune.