A federal immigration agent shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, leaving him in a serious but stable condition, according to local officials.
The shooting happened shortly before 1pm local time on the city’s north side. Robert Luckritz, chief of Austin-Travis County Emergency Medical Services, said the man appeared to have been shot once in the torso.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said the man remained in a serious condition but was stable. He said he did not know the man’s nationality.
Austin police chief Lisa Davis said the incident may have followed a foot pursuit, although she stressed that the information was preliminary. Local police investigators attended the scene and were liaising with Homeland Security Investigations, but neither Davis nor Watson said Austin police were involved in the shooting.
Mike Siegel, the Austin City Council member for District 7, alleged that an ICE officer had rammed the man’s car before leaving the federal vehicle and opening fire at least five times. The claim has not been independently established.
A dark blue Toyota Corolla was found beneath an overpass with damage to its passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes. Siegel said he could see at least two holes in the vehicle.
A large law enforcement presence gathered at the scene, where a crowd of onlookers also assembled. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not immediately provide details.
Watson said he was “very angry” about the shooting and questioned whether ICE could credibly investigate its own officer. “Austinites have a right to know what happened,” he said, adding that he had asked for local officials to be involved in the inquiry.
US Representative Greg Casar, who represents parts of Austin, called for an independent investigation and the immediate release of body-camera footage. “As the facts emerge, I am demanding a full, independent investigation, immediate release of the body camera footage, and accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law,” he wrote on X.
The shooting follows two other incidents involving ICE officers in July. Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, of Houston, was fatally shot after federal agents in unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site, while a 25-year-old Colombian man, Johan Sebastián, was shot by an ICE officer in Maine.
The incidents have occurred amid the Trump administration’s drive to carry out mass deportations, with arrests continuing despite a decision not to maintain a crackdown on individual cities. Enforcement efforts were also widely condemned after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota last winter.
