A federal immigration agent shot 29-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez during a Sunday traffic stop in north Austin. The incident led to violent protests and demands from city leaders for an independent probe.
The North-Austin Overpass Shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez
The encounter began as a routine traffic stop involving a small blue Toyota sedan driven by Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. According to the report, the situation escalated rapidly when a federal officer from U.S. Customs and Border Protection engaged in a brief foot pursuit of the 29-year-old Venezuelan national beneath a north-Austin overpass.
Witnesses at the scene described hearing gunshots and seeing the agent in conversation with Perez, who was allegedly shot in the back. The report notes that photographs of the blue Toyota sedan show bullet holes across the passenger-side door, and Perez was left with a serious but stable gunshot wound to his torso.
Mexican Flags and Pepper Spray: The Riot at the Scene
The shooting triggered immediate chaos as a crowd of protestors gathered at the overpass, waving Mexican flags and chanting against ICE. The situation devolved into a standoff with riot police, during which protestors hurled water bottles and rocks at the security forces. In response, officers deployed chemical agents and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.
Amidst the turmoil, Austin Council member Mike Siegel confirmed that a civilian, who did not appear to be injured, was handcuffed at the scene. This escalation highlights the volatility of federal enforcement actions when they occur in densely populated metropolitan areas where local sentiment may be hostile toward immigration raids.
Greg Casar and Kirk Watson Demand Third-Party Oversight
Representative Greg Casar, whose district encompasses Austin, has called for a comprehensive and independent investigation into the shooting. As reported, Casar demanded the immediate release of body-camera footage, asserting that federal immigrtion authorities have a history of dishonesty regarding shooting incidents. He specifically linked this event to the death of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year as evidence of a systemic pattern of questionable enforcement.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson has echoed these demands, insisting that the city will not allow the incident to go unexamined. mayor Watson is pushing for a third-party review to ensure the investigation does not rely solely on internal ICE findings. This push for transparency follows a similar Texas incident in July , involving the lethal shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston,which remains under investigation.
The Missing ICE Statement and Body-Camera Footage
Despite the public outcry and the severity of the injuries sustained by Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, federal authorities have yet to release an official statement detailing the facts of the encounter. The lack of an immediate federal account leaves several critical questions unanswered, most notably the precise nature of the foot pursuit and whether the use of force was justified under CBP protocols.
The resolution of this case now depends on the release of video evidence and the potential formation of a joint task force. Until the body-camera footage is made public, the narrative remains split between the eyewitness accounts of a man shot in the back and the official silence of the federal agency involved.
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