Immigrant says ICE agent shot him; bullet remains lodged in his back while in detention

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a Venezuelan national, was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer during a traffic stop in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon while making DoorDash deliveries. According to his attorney, Kate Lincoln‑Goldfinch, the officer fired into Garcés Pérez’s blue Toyota Corolla, striking him in the torso. He was immediately handcuffed, shackled at the feet, placed in a waist chain and taken to a hospital for treatment.

Hospital records indicate that a bullet remained lodged near Garcés Pérez’s spine after the shooting. Four hours after his admission, ICE officials transferred him from the Austin hospital to the South Texas ICE Processing Center, a detention facility located roughly 130 miles away. The transfer occurred while the bullet was still embedded near his spinal column.

Gar­cés Pérez communicated by phone on Monday that he was “not doing well” and had not received the necessary medical attention while in detention. He reported that he was placed in the detention center without a bed or medication and that he experienced loss of feeling on the left side of his body, including his arm and leg. A fellow detainee corroborated the claim of neurological symptoms.

Following complaints of paralysis, Garcés Pérez was moved to another hospital late Monday for further medical evaluation. He has since been admitted to that facility, where his condition continues to be monitored. His attorney has called for answers regarding the adequacy of the medical care he received while in ICE custody.

The incident has raised questions about the handling of detainees who sustain serious injuries while in federal custody, particularly regarding the timing of medical treatment and the decision to transfer an injured individual to a remote detention center. No official statement from ICE or the agency’s supervising officials has been released at this time.