📅 Date: September 30, 2026
📍 Location: Austin, Texas
📰 Source: CNN
🏷️ Topic: ICE shooting, immigration enforcement, federal charges
A Venezuelan man who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Austin, Texas, has been charged with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer, adding a new development to a case that has already drawn protests and scrutiny over the use of force by immigration authorities.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, appeared in federal court Tuesday after prosecutors accused him of striking an ICE officer with his vehicle’s side mirror while attempting to flee a traffic stop. The allegations are contained in a federal criminal complaint and have not been proven in court.
According to the government’s account, ICE officers stopped Perez on September 20. Prosecutors say that when officers ordered him out of his vehicle, he drove away and struck one officer with the vehicle’s side mirror. That officer then pursued Perez and later alleged that Perez attempted to drive into him, prompting the officer to fire a handgun.
Perez disputes that account. According to the federal affidavit, he told investigators that an enforcement vehicle struck his car and caused it to spin before an officer opened fire. Publicly released footage shows Perez injured after the shooting, but the actual moment of the shooting has not been publicly released.
The officer who fired the shot was reportedly not wearing a body camera. Another ICE officer had a camera, but the footage cited by prosecutors does not publicly show the shooting itself. That has become a central issue in questions surrounding the incident.
Perez was shot in the back and has told his attorneys that a bullet remains lodged in his body. His lawyer has also said he suffered a fractured clavicle and has raised concerns about his medical treatment while in federal custody. The Department of Homeland Security has said Perez is receiving appropriate medical care.
The shooting occurred while Perez was working as a food-delivery driver. Earlier reports said he entered the United States through the CBP One process and had been subject to immigration proceedings. His attorneys are separately seeking to prevent his removal from the country.
The incident prompted demonstrations in Austin and criticism from local and federal officials over transparency. Austin officials had previously called for broader involvement in the investigation rather than relying solely on an internal federal inquiry.
Perez now faces the federal criminal case while also dealing with a separate immigration proceeding that could determine whether he remains in the United States. The shooting investigation remains closely watched as authorities examine the competing accounts of what happened before the officer opened fire.
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