NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
New surveillance footage reveals the chaotic moments federal law enforcement vehicles chased a Venezuelan migrant over the weekend in in Austin, shortly before he was shot by an immigration officer.
The video shows at least two vehicles with sirens blaring, pursuing a speeding car driven by 28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez. The Department of Homeland Security confirmed the authenticity of the footage to Fox News.
Garces Perez, who was shot by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer, was subsequently arrested and placed in detention.
AUSTIN ICE SHOOTING SPARKS FIGHT OVER VENEZUELAN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT’S DEPORTATION
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, an illegal immigrant from Venezuela, was shot by U.S. Immigration (ICE) and Customs Enforcement officers in Austin, Texas over the weekend. (Wilber Garces/Facebook)
According to his attorney, Katie Lincoln Goldfinch, officers in an unmarked vehicle attempted to run her client off the road while he was working as a DoorDash driver. She stated that Garces Perez was chased, sideswiped, shot in the back of the neck, and then pulled from his car.
However, the account is contested by local law enforcement evidence. The surveillance footage shows no apparent damage to Garces Perez’s car. Additionally, bodycam video from Austin police officers who responded to the scene shows officers assisting him out of the vehicle rather than pulling him out, contradicting Goldfinch’s claim.
LAWYER FOR AUSTIN ICE SHOOTING VICTIM SPARKS ONLINE FURY OVER ‘SICKENING’ DELETED CHARLIE KIRK POST
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was shot as U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers were trying to take him into custody in Austin, Texas over the weekend. Austin police bodycam footage released Tuesday shows Garces Perez in his vehicle after the shooting, just before he was arrested. (Austin Police Department)
In a statement posted to Facebook on Wednesday, Goldfinch reported that her client is being held in isolation in an ICE detention facility infirmary, remaining “gravely ill” with a bullet still lodged in his body.
“Our immediate demands are clear: restore Wilber’s communication privileges and take him back to the hospital. He needs access to appropriate medical care,” she wrote.
SOCIALIST, COMMUNIST GROUPS COORDINATE, PROMOTE ‘SPONTANEOUS’ ANTI-ICE PROTESTS IN AUSTIN
The incident has drawn sharp criticism from Democratic lawmakers. Critics have labeled ICE a “rogue” organization accused of “terrorizing our cities and threatening the safety of our residents.”
U.S. Representative Greg Casar, D-Texas, visited the ICE detention facility on Wednesday to meet with Garces Perez. In a video posted to X, Casar criticized the agency’s handling of the situation.
People protest against Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers on Sept. 20, 2026, in Austin, Texas. A federal ICE officer shot and wounded a person earlier in the day in North Austin. (Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“ICE has been trying to blame all of this on him without releasing any of the video footage, any of the evidence,” Casar said.
