Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, the Venezuelan man shot by a federal immigration agent on Sunday, said he still has the bullet in his back.
The 28-year-old man, who was in the middle of a DoorDash delivery in Austin, Texas, when he was shot, spoke by phone to reporters during a news conference Monday. He said doctors didn’t remove the bullet from his back because it was close to his spine and that federal officials were in a hurry to take him into detention.
“I said, ‘How are you going to leave the bullet there if it hurts?’” Garces Perez said in Spanish.
After the press conference, Garces Perez was taken to a hospital from the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, his attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said in an X post Monday night.
Trending
“I am waiting to find out how he is doing and what his current condition is,” Lincoln-Goldfinch wrote. “We need answers. We need to know that Wilber is safe and receiving appropriate medical care. So far, he has not.”
Garces Perez said an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent instructed him to exit his car on Sunday. He replied that he didn’t want to leave his car in the middle of the road. Then, he said he took a U-turn to find parking, an ICE agent sideswiped his car and he was shot.
“I was telling him it hurt a lot, that I couldn’t move. I was basically passed out,” Garces Perez said in Spanish.
Garces Perez went to the hospital for treatment but did not undergo surgery to remove the bullet. ICE took him to a detention center about 140 miles south of the city at 4 a.m., Lincoln-Goldfinch said.
Lincoln-Goldfinch filed a petition on Monday in federal court seeking Garces Perez’s release from ICE custody, according to a court docket.
The Department of Homeland Security said it is investigating the officer-involved shooting of “an illegal alien from Venezuela.” Garces Perez entered the country during President Joe Biden’s administration and “had a final order of removal,” DHS said.
Garces Perez entered the country in 2024 as an asylum seeker and had a work permit, Lincoln-Goldfinch said. He received a removal order after missing a court date because the notice of the hearing was sent to an old address, the attorney said.
Reps. Lloyd Doggett and Greg Casar, both Democrats from Texas, spoke about the need for accountability during the press conference before Garces Perez spoke. Casar said he wouldn’t allow ICE to deport Garces Perez.
“Congress is making it very clear to the head of ICE and to Secretary [Markwayne] Mullin that Wilber Garces needs to be released to medical care and should not be in Pearsall,” Casar said. “He needs to be released right now.”
Rep. Joaquin Castro, another Texas Democrat, said he and Casar plan to visit Garces Perez on Wednesday “to check on his condition and demand his release.”
“Wilber came to the United States legally,” Castro continued. “He had work permits and was an asylum seeker. None of this should have ever happened.
This article has been updated.
Author
