The Austin Police Department on Tuesday released body camera footage showing officers responding to the scene where U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents shot Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan migrant, during an attempted arrest on Sunday.
The three short clips show Austin police arriving after the shooting, not the shooting itself. In one recording, what sound like three gunshots can be heard. Another shows Garces Perez sitting hunched over in the driver’s seat of his vehicle, appearing to grip his left shoulder in pain.
Officers wearing body cameras are seen helping Garces Perez out of the vehicle before placing him under arrest, footage that runs counter to claims he was pulled from the car by agents. One officer can be heard directing someone to bring shears to cut open his shirt so his wounds could be examined.
“¿Tiene armas?” an officer asks Garces Perez in Spanish, asking whether he had any weapons. “No,” he replies. Another officer says, “He’s got… looks like one gunshot wound so far.”
According to reports, Garces Perez was delivering a DoorDash order when he made a U-turn under a highway and was then pursued by ICE agents. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, has said an unmarked truck chased her client and sideswiped his vehicle before he was shot.
Authorities have confirmed Garces Perez was subject to a final order of removal. Lincoln-Goldfinch said that order was issued after a hearing notice was mailed to an old address, even though her client had updated his address with the court.
ICE has pushed back on characterizations of the incident, saying Garces Perez’s work permit expired in 2025 and that holding a work permit does not by itself confer legal status in the United States. The agency also said Garces Perez was released from the hospital and arrived at an ICE detention facility within hours, where he slept on a bed, and denied that he had been targeted at random.
“This illegal alien was the subject of a targeted vehicle stop,” ICE said in a statement. “What makes someone a target for immigration enforcement is whether or not they are illegally in the U.S. Resisting officers and evading arrest is dangerous for our officers, illegal aliens, and the public. We remind the public that resisting officers and evading arrest is a felony and a federal crime. Sanctuary politicians need to stop encouraging this dangerous behavior that puts our officers and the public at risk.”
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