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Venezuelan man shot and injured by ICE agent in Texas, officials say

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Cite

Bligh, H. (2026, September 21). Venezuelan man shot and injured by ICE agent in Texas, officials say. Euronews. https://www.euronews.com/2026/09/21/venezuelan-man-shot-and-injured-by-ice-agent-in-texas-officials-say

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

Euronews · collected 2026-09-21 · by Harry Bligh

Quick Summary

A Venezuelan national identified as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot and wounded by a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent while making a DoorDash delivery in Austin, Texas. Mayor Kirk Watson has called for an independent investigation involving local police forces, arguing that ICE should not handle the probe alone due to concerns about its impartiality. The incident occurred during a significant uptick in ICE operations in Austin, leading to community outrage and protests demanding transparency and accountability from federal authorities.
Written by AI on 2026-09-21, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

On September 20, 2026, an ICE officer shot and wounded Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan delivery driver, in Austin, Texas. The incident occurred during a traffic stop in North Austin. Garces Perez was taken to a hospital where he remained for nearly two weeks before undergoing surgery on October 2, 2026, to remove the bullet from his back.

City leaders and Democratic officials have called for an independent investigation into the shooting, with demands for bodycam footage release and accountability measures. Kirk Watson, Austin's mayor, stated that the victim is in "serious but stable condition." The incident has sparked debates over immigration policies and law enforcement practices, particularly under President Trump's mass deportation campaign rhetoric.

The exact circumstances leading to the shooting have not been fully disclosed by ICE or other authorities, leaving significant questions about what transpired during the traffic stop.

Written for “Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE Charged with Assault” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 76 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE Charged with Assault
Politics · 77 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
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⚖️ Centre further right than this Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
Times of India
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 17 claims Outlet record 59/100
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 3 of 38 claims Outlet record 64/100
Toronto Star
Hedges 1 of 2 claims Outlet record 64/100
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
Toronto Star
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 2 of 20 claims Outlet record 64/100
NBC News
Hedges 3 of 39 claims Outlet record 60/100
Washington Examiner
Hedges 2 of 14 claims Outlet record 70/100
NPR
Hedges 3 of 27 claims Outlet record 60/100
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
23
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 23 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
60/100
Euronews's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
77
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-21 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

Euronews · 1144 article(s) · 1 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 1 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Harry Bligh
10 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 The final count, expected on Thursday evening, is set to confirm that Netanyahu's bloc has fallen short of the 61 seats needed for a majority.
🔮 Developers released emergency fixes on Wednesday, while cybersecurity authorities urged organisations to update affected systems immediately or take them offline until they could be secured.
🔮 Previously, as the mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham had said Trump was not welcome in the city and that he would refuse to meet him.
🔮 The Mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, has called for an independent probe involving local police, saying ICE should not investigate the incident by itself.
🔮 It is not yet clear what the ban will entail.
🔮 The Governor of South Cotabato, Reynaldo Tamayo, said the two students killed were a boy and a girl.
🔮 Experts have estimated it could take around three years to restore stocks of advanced missiles and defensive interceptors to pre-war levels.
Also by Harry Bligh
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 10 articles by Harry Bligh →

Topics

Austin ICE Texas US Immigration and Customs Enforcement Venezuelan

Subjects

ICE ORG · 13× Texas GPE · 4× Austin PERSON · 3× American NORP · 2× Casar PERSON · 2× Garces Perez PERSON · 2× Kirk Watson PERSON · 2× Trump PERSON · 2× Venezuelan NORP · 2× US Immigration and Customs Enforcement ORG · 1×

Narrative

The wounded man's lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said on X that Garces Perez had been shot by an ICE agent while making "a DoorDash delivery." The shooting took place during a "significant increase, almost overnight" of ICE operations in the Texas capital, Mayor Kirk Watson told a press conference.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-21
🔮 The Mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, has called for an independent probe involving local police, saying ICE should not investigate the incident by itself.
2026-09-21 · Euronews
Venezuelan man shot and injured by ICE agent in Texas, officials say · assertive framing

Claims (23 extracted, 1 hedged)

The Mayor of Austin, Kirk Watson, has called for an independent probe involving local police, saying ICE should not investigate the incident by itself. asserted
ICE → call → itself
A Venezuelan national was shot and wounded by a US immigration agent, Texas officials said on Sunday, as they voiced outrage and demanded a thorough investigation. asserted
they → shoot → investigation
Tasked with enforcing Trump's immigration crackdown, heavily armed and often masked US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agents have faced nationwide backlash for aggressive and often violent tactics, including the shooting of American citizens. asserted
agents → task → citizens
The man, identified by his lawyer as 28-year-old Venezuelan national Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, was taken to a hospital in Texas's capital city Austin in a serious but stable condition after being shot in the torso, officials said. asserted
officials → identify → torso
The wounded man's lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said on X that Garces Perez had been shot by an ICE agent while making "a DoorDash delivery." The shooting took place during a "significant increase, almost overnight" of ICE operations in the Texas capital, Mayor Kirk Watson told a press conference. asserted
Watson → say → conference
The Department of Homeland Security said Monday it was leading an investigation into the officer involved in the shooting with the help of the FBI. asserted
it → say → FBI
The department said in a post on X that the man had "illegally entered our country under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal. asserted
man → say → removal
" "The illegal alien's condition is stable, and he is in federal custody pending removal," it added. asserted
it → pende → removal
Watson said he was "very angry and extremely disappointed that a person was shot on the streets of Austin by ICE." He said local law enforcement should be involved in the investigation. " asserted
enforcement → say → investigation
The credibility of ICE doing some form of investigation just by itself and excluding others would not be appropriate," he said. asserted
he → do → others
Texas Democratic Representative Greg Casar echoed that sentiment, telling reporters that "ICE has not been truthful in shootings in other cities." asserted
ICE → echo → cities
Casar cited the January shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis in which video footage belied ICE accounts that she had attempted to run over a federal agent. asserted
she → cite → agent
"It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep," he said. asserted
he → come → doorstep
"A few weeks ago as we saw the ICE surge come...I and others said that ICE needed to leave before someone was shot." asserted
someone → see → ?
The House Democrat called for the release of body camera footage of Sunday's incident. asserted
Democrat → call → incident
A few hours later, Casar said Garces Perez had been "taken out of the hospital and into ICE custody. asserted
Perez → say → custody
" "If ICE deports him, the key witness to their shooting disappears," the lawmaker added. asserted
lawmaker → deport → shooting
"He must not be removed from this country and he must receive proper medical care." asserted
he → remove → care
Lincoln-Goldfinch said her client was placed "into custody, but we still don't know his location." asserted
we → say → location
The shooting sparked outrage in the community with video footage posted by local news outlets to social media showing several dozen people protesting at the alleged shooting site. asserted
people → spark → site
Donald Trump campaigned for president in 2016 and again in 2024, on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants, and has taken a series of dramatic actions since returning to the White House aimed at speeding up deportations and reducing border crossings. asserted
Trump → campaign → crossings
Nearly 51,000 undocumented migrants were arrested in the United States in August, according to Department of Homeland Security figures. uncertain
migrants → arrest → figures
Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old was shot by ICE in March 2025, in what the Texas Tribune said was the first known killing by immigration agents of an American in Trump's second term. asserted
Tribune → shoot → term
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