ICE Officer Shoots DoorDash Driver During Austin Traffic Stop
An ICE officer shot and seriously wounded 28-year-old delivery driver Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez during a traffic stop in Austin. Officials said he survived and was stable.
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garcés Perez during a traffic stop in North Austin on Sunday, leaving the DoorDash driver seriously wounded, according to local officials and news reports.
Austin officials said Garcés Perez was shot once in the torso and taken to a hospital in serious but stable condition. DoorDash confirmed to CNN that he was working as a delivery driver at the time.
Key circumstances remain under investigation. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said city officers were not involved in the operation or the shooting. Mayor Kirk Watson called for an independent review with local participation rather than an investigation handled only by federal authorities.
The Department of Homeland Security said Garcés Perez entered the country unlawfully and had a final removal order. An attorney representing his family, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, described him as a Venezuelan asylum seeker and initially disputed parts of the federal account. Those competing descriptions have not been fully reconciled in public records.
Homeland Security Investigations is leading a review with FBI assistance. No public account had established what prompted the officer to fire when this story was published.