ICE officer shoots and wounds man in Austin, Texas, officials say

A man has been hospitalised after being shot in the torso by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in the Texas capital, Austin, local authorities said.

The man was in a serious but stable condition at a hospital after being shot once in the torso on the city’s north side on Sunday afternoon, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a news conference with the local mayor and other city officials.

An immigration attorney representing the man’s family identified him as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan.

Lawyer Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said in a video posted to her Instagram account that she believed he had no criminal history and no final order of removal from the US, but she later told the Associated Press news agency that she did not know his current immigration status.

The man’s family has struggled to get any information from the hospital about his status or location, Lincoln-Goldfinch said.

Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting, which occurred after a traffic stop, Davis told reporters.

The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not participate in the news conference and didn’t immediately respond to requests for details.

Austin Mayor Kirk Watson, a Democrat, said he wants the city’s police department to be involved in the investigation so it can provide “clear, third-party eyes” in the process. Watson said he does not think it would be appropriate for ICE to conduct an investigation on its own.

Austin residents have “a right to feel safe in their city”, Watson said. A proper investigation will only enhance credibility, he added.

Asked if Austin authorities knew where the involved federal agent is, given that agents have left states after previous shootings nationwide, the mayor said: “We do not know that. But my hope would be that an agent that’s involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state.”

Davis said she did not yet know the nationality of the person who was shot. The police chief said there were not many facts she could provide so soon after the incident, but added that her department’s special investigation unit was at the scene.

A large law enforcement presence was at the location of the shooting, along with a crowd of about 100 protesters. Some demonstrators cursed at police officers holding riot shields, while others yelled out as passing cars honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign saying “Nobody is safe” and, on the other side, “ICE Nazi”.

US Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat representing parts of Austin, called for transparency as the shooting is investigated.

“It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep,” Casar told reporters. “For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here.”

The shooting comes as ICE surged enforcement across the US this summer, producing more than 50,000 arrests a month for the first time in its history in July and August.

In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo , of Houston, after federal agents driving unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.