A Venezuelan national illegally present in the United States spoke publicly Monday about being shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, stating he remains in considerable pain with a bullet lodged near his spine.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, addressed reporters by telephone from the Pearsall detention facility, located 130 miles from Austin, where he was transported at approximately 4 a.m. Monday following Sunday’s shooting. The Department of Homeland Security has confirmed Garces Perez is in the country illegally.
The incident has generated significant local opposition, with protests and criticism from Austin officials following the shooting.
According to his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, Garces Perez was working as a delivery driver for DoorDash when the encounter with ICE officers occurred. The delivery platform confirmed this detail.
Speaking through an interpreter during Monday’s news conference, Garces Perez provided his account of the incident. “I am not doing well due to the gunshot wound, and I have not received the medical attention that I require,” he stated. Medical personnel left the bullet in place due to its proximity to his spine, he explained.
Garces Perez described the encounter beginning when an SUV pulled alongside his vehicle and attempted to make contact. “He thought it was like an aggressive driver. Turns out it was not,” the interpreter relayed. He said he requested to pull over safely so officers could detain him, but they refused and side-swiped his vehicle instead.
The driver said he executed a U-turn seeking a safe location to stop, at which point officers collided with his vehicle and opened fire. Garces Perez maintained that officers never activated emergency lights or sirens until after the side-swipe collision occurred, and never verbally instructed him to stop.
The exact number of shots fired remains unclear to Garces Perez, though he felt at least one bullet strike him. He further alleged that ICE officers did not provide immediate medical assistance following the shooting.
“One of the officers got into my car and forcibly turned it off. I told him I was in a lot of pain and I thought I was going to pass out. And then the EMTs arrived and that was that,” Garces Perez recounted.
His account contradicts an initial Department of Homeland Security statement issued on social media Sunday, which indicated Garces Perez was shot during a foot chase.
“There was no foot chase,” Garces Perez stated unequivocally, adding that he never exited his vehicle until required to do so.
The Department of Homeland Security has announced that Homeland Security Investigations, working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, is conducting an investigation into the officer-involved shooting.
His wife, Elizdar, attended Monday’s news conference alongside the attorney.
The incident raises questions about the circumstances under which federal immigration officers may use deadly force, and whether proper protocols were followed in this encounter. As the investigation proceeds, discrepancies between the official account and the driver’s version will require careful examination of available evidence.
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