The ICE officer who shot a Venezuelan man in Austin on Sunday was not wearing a body-worn camera, according to three Department of Homeland Security officials familiar with the investigation, raising fresh questions over transparency in the use of force by US immigration agents.
The officer, who has not been publicly identified, was a recent hire who joined Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year after working for another federal law enforcement agency, officials told The Atlantic.
Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, was shot during an operation in north Austin on 20 September. His immigration lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he had been making a DoorDash delivery when an unmarked vehicle sideswiped his car.
Mr Garces Perez has alleged that the vehicle struck him again after he made a U-turn beneath a motorway bridge. He said officers then got out and shot him in the back of the neck before pulling him from his car.
ICE has said there was a brief foot pursuit before the shooting. The precise sequence of events remains under investigation, and the agency has not publicly identified the officer involved.
ICE shooting in Austin prompts calls for footage
Federal officials told The Atlantic that the officer’s colleague, who was travelling in a separate vehicle, was wearing a body camera and had activated it. That footage could provide evidence about the events leading up to the shooting, although it has not been released publicly.
ICE policy requires officers making arrests to wear their cameras and switch them on before enforcement activity begins. Officers are also instructed to continue recording until an incident has safely ended.
Officials said agents who fail to follow the policy must submit a written explanation to their supervisors and could face disciplinary action. CBS News reported that the officer who fired the shot had been placed on administrative leave, a standard step while the investigation proceeds.
ICE has declined to answer directly whether the officer was wearing a camera or, if not, why the equipment was not being used. The agency has instead referred to a statement saying the shooting is being investigated.
The Department of Homeland Security said Homeland Security Investigations was leading the inquiry with assistance from the FBI. It described Mr Garces Perez as a Venezuelan national who had entered the United States unlawfully and was subject to a final removal order.
His lawyer disputes parts of that account. She said he entered the country legally through a process used by asylum seekers, held a work permit and missed an immigration hearing after documents were sent to an old address.
Austin police were not involved in the operation or the shooting, but officers helped secure roads near the scene at Anderson Square. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the department’s Special Investigations Unit, which examines officer-involved shootings, attended the scene.
Emergency crews were called at about 12.56pm and reached Mr Garces Perez within roughly three and a half minutes. He was taken to a trauma centre in serious but stable condition, according to Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services.
Mr Garces Perez was later transferred into federal custody at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, about 130 miles south-west of Austin. He has since been taken back to hospital, according to Congressman Joaquin Castro.
Speaking by phone through a translator at a news conference, Mr Garces Perez said the bullet remained lodged near his spine and that he was not receiving the medical attention he needed. His legal team has called for the release of all available body-camera footage and an independent investigation into the shooting.
A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation while his legal challenge proceeds. The order is due to be reviewed at a hearing on 30 September.
