Man shot by ICE officer in Texas back in hospital, attorney says

A Venezuelan man shot and wounded by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Texas over the weekend was hospitalized late Monday after being taken to an immigration facility with a bullet still lodged in his back, according to his lawyer.

Immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said during a press conference that ICE agents “sideswiped” her client, 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, in his car when he was making a DoorDash delivery on Sunday.

A federal agent shot Perez while he was still in his vehicle, according to his attorney, and he was taken to the hospital before being released into ICE custody .

Lincoln-Goldfinch, during the press conference, held her phone up to the microphone and identified the person on the line as Perez.

The man said he had received no pain medication or treatment during his time in detention for his bullet wound, which he said doctors were unable to remove because of its proximity to his spine.

“I am not doing well because of the gunshot wound I received,” Perez said in Spanish.

The attorney said her client was back in the hospital by Monday night.

Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas), who represents the area of Austin where the shooting occurred, called the news a “positive first step” in a social media post on Monday.

“Now, we have to make sure he fully recovers, is reunited with his family, and gets to tell law enforcement the full story of how he was shot in the back by ICE,” the Democratic lawmaker wrote.

In a video message shared on Monday, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis acknowledged the “concern and uncertainty” the shooting created and expressed the department’s commitment to conducting an impartial investigation into the incident.

“People will have strong feelings about what happened,” she said. “People will have questions — and they should — but in determining what happened in this particular incident, we have to allow evidence, and not rumor, speculation or incomplete information, guide us.”

The Department of Homeland Security, which includes Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI, is leading the investigation into the incident.