A man identified as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan, was shot by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas. The shooting occurred during a foot pursuit on Sunday afternoon; the victim suffered a gunshot wound to his torso and is hospitalized in serious but stable condition. Mayor Kirk Watson called for an independent investigation involving the local police department due to what he described as increased and chaotic ICE operations under President Trump’s administration. Protests against ICE followed the incident, with demonstrators gathering near where the shooting took place.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-09-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
A man has been hospitalized in Austin, Texas after being shot by an officer of the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), local officials said Sunday.
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officials → hospitalize → Enforcement
Austin's Mayor Kirk Watson expressed his anger over the shooting, calling for the involvement of the local police in a "clear-eyed" investigation into the incident.
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Mayor → express → incident
What do we know about the ICE shooting in Austin?
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we → know → Austin
The man suffered one gunshot wound in his torso during a brief foot pursuit in the Texan capital's north side shortly before 1 pm local time, Austin officials said at a press briefing.
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officials → suffer → briefing
He is at a local hospital in a serious but stable condition, the officials said, adding that the information on the incident was "very preliminary."
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information → say → incident
City police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said.
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Davis → involve → operation
Who is the man wounded by ICE agent?
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man → wound → agent
The officials did not name the man or release his age and nationality but an immigration lawyer, representing his family, identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan.
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lawyer → name → Perez
Attorney Kate Lincoln Goldfinch said in a video published on her Instagram account that she believed he had no criminal history and had no final order to be removed from the country.
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he → say → country
The Associated Press later cited Goldfinch as saying that she did not know his current immigration status.
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she → cite → status
There is yet to be a statement on the shooting from ICE or the Department of Homeland Security that oversees the immigration agency.
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that → be → agency
Meanwhile, a group of about 100 protesters gathered at the site of the shooting and demonstrated against ICE's actions.
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group → gather → actions
The protest was held across the street from a blue Toyota Corolla which had damage to its passenger-side door, news agency Reuters reported citing local TV, as ICE agents stood nearby.
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agents → hold → TV
Austin Mayor rails against 'rogue' ICE, calls for independent probe
Sunday's shooting is the latest in a slew of incidents involving ICE, which has become the face of an immigration clampdown by US President Donald Trump's Republican administration.
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which → rail → administration
Watson, a Democrat, told the media that the shooting occurred amid a "significant increase, almost overnight" of ICE operations in Austin.
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shooting → tell → Austin
"While I'm angry and disappointed, I'm not surprised.
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I → disappoint → ?
This has happened in other cities.
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This → happen → cities
With the rogue nature of ICE and the chaos we're seeing fomented by ICE, there's no reason to be surprised," the Austin mayor wrote on X.
He called for an independent investigation into the shooting, with the Austin Police Department (APD) having a role in the probe.
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Department → see → probe
He said that the people of Austin had a "right to know what happened" and "a right to feel safe in their community".
"Though APD was not involved in the shooting, I believe that there needs to be an investigation that APD assures is clear-eyed, as complete as possible, and independent," Watson said.
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Watson → say → shooting
He added that police chief Davis had deployed the APD's Special Investigation Unit at the scene, elaborating that the unit is the one responsible for probing Austin's officer-involved shootings.
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unit → add → shootings
Watson said that Davis has also asked the Texas Rangers to help out in the investigation.
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Davis → say → investigation
'Horror has come to our doorstep,' says Congressman
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Congressman → come → doorstep
On Sunday, US Representative Greg Casar — a Texas Democrat — called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.
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shooting → call → transparency
He accused ICE of not being "truthful" in shooting in other cities.
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He → accuse → cities
"It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep," Casar said.
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Casar → come → doorstep
"A few weeks ago as we saw the ICE surge come ... I and others said that ICE needed to leave before someone was shot," he told the media.
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he → see → media
Don't let the algorithm hide the news.
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algorithm → let → news
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you → rely → news
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