Photo via The Independent

ICE agent who shot DoorDash driver was recruit who wasn’t using bodycam: report

Read the original at The Independent ↗
Cite

Scott, O. (2026, September 23). ICE agent who shot DoorDash driver was recruit who wasn’t using bodycam: report. The Independent. https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/wilber-rafael-garces-perez-austin-texas-ice-b3054912.html

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

The Independent · collected 2026-09-23 · by Owen Scott

Quick Summary

An ICE agent who shot Venezuelan DoorDash driver Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez in Texas was newly hired and not wearing his body camera at the time. The incident occurred on Sunday when Garcés Pérez, 28, was delivering food in Austin and subsequently arrested; footage from his arrest has since been released by the Austin Police Department. Three unnamed officials from the Department of Homeland Security told The Atlantic that ICE agents were trying to pull over Garcés Pérez before he allegedly fled, leading to the shooting. Garcés Pérez’s attorney claims her client lawfully entered the U.S., while DHS asserts his work permit expired in 2025 and that his deportation order was issued due to incorrect mailing address for hearing notices.
Written by AI on 2026-09-23, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer shot and wounded a Venezuelan man, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, during a traffic stop on Sunday afternoon in North Austin, Texas. The shooting occurred when officers approached the man's vehicle; he was subsequently taken to a hospital with serious but stable condition after being shot once in his torso. City leaders demanded an independent investigation and release of body camera footage from the incident. A federal judge later temporarily blocked Perez’s deportation while authorities investigate the shooting. His mother described speaking to him moments after the incident via video call, emphasizing the urgency of medical attention as Perez needs surgery to avoid losing feeling on the left side of his body due to the bullet lodged in his back. Austin city officials and activists are calling for transparency and accountability from ICE regarding this event.

Written for “Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE in Texas” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 62 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Venezuelan Man Shot by ICE in Texas
Crime & Law · 63 article(s) covering the same event. See how they differ ↓

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans left and hedges 17% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
The Straits Times
⚖️ Leans strongly left further left than this Hedges 0 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
Times of India
Hedges 0 of 23 claims Outlet record 59/100
New York Post
Hedges 3 of 15 claims Outlet record 66/100
Euronews
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 1 of 23 claims Outlet record 60/100
NBC News
Outlet record 60/100
CBS News
⚖️ Centre further right than this Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
Hedges 0 of 3 claims Outlet record 66/100
CBS News
⚖️ Leans left Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 66/100
NBC News
Hedges 3 of 39 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
24
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
17%
4 of 24 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
59/100
The Independent's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
63
Crime & Law
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-09-23 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Independent · 3499 article(s) · 8 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 8 correction(s)

Who wrote this

Owen Scott
84 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 In her motion, Hutt suggested that the pause would be effective for 45 days but could even be extended for a year.
🔮 “Seeing a passenger jet flying low overhead here would be quite a bad sign!
🔮 Hinton added: “The fact that I couldn’t wake up this morning to my baby, it really tore me up.”
🔮 Trump has previously stated that he will accept the midterm results, under one condition.
🔮 “She came up to me and my coworker, Elijah, with a stroller,” assistant manager Jarayya Mayes told Fox 5 Atlanta.
🔮 William “Stone” Romberg, a beach hospitality manager who worked in Florida’s panhandle, was killed on Sunday as he swam out to untangle the bird from his lure after casting it near an inlet in the Panama City Beach area.
🔮 President Donald Trump has warned a federal judge that he will hold her personally responsible if anyone dies on a “highly dangerous” golf course he wants renovated.
🔮 Currently, the GOP controls both the House and the Senate, but some polls have shown that the Democratic Party could flip the balance of power in Congress.
🔮 During his show, Maher said that Trump had the “lowest approval rating of any midterm candidate ever,” poked fun at the president’s comments about Senator Jon Husted’s body and asked Leavitt what Trump could be like during the “lame-duck” phase of his presidency.
🔮 A DOGE affiliate who oversaw the firing of thousands of federal employees and ended USAID may not have had the authority to do so, according to a report.
Also by Owen Scott
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 84 articles by Owen Scott →

Topics

DoorDash ICE NBC News The Atlantic Venezuelan

Subjects

ICE ORG · 12× DHS ORG · 4× DoorDash ORG · 3× Garcés Pérez PERSON · 3× Garcés Pérez’s PERSON · 3× The Atlantic ORG · 3× Independent NORP · 2× Lincoln-Goldfinch PERSON · 2× NBC News ORG · 2× Venezuelan NORP · 2×

Narrative

“Before we hear anything from ICE about ‘we pulled him over’ or ‘he was fleeing’ or ‘he was aggressive,’” Garcés Pérez’s attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, wrote on X, “our response to any statements like this is: ‘We won’t believe you until you show us...show us your body cam footage, show us your dash cam footage.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-09-23
🔮 ICE agents are required to switch on their cameras before enforcement actions take place and may only stop recording them once the incident has concluded.

Claims (24 extracted, 4 hedged)

An ICE agent who shot a Venezuelan DoorDash driver in Texas was a recruit and not wearing a body camera at the time, according to multiple reports. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was shot once on Sunday in Austin while carrying out his deliveries. uncertain
Pérez → shoot → deliveries
The Austin Police Department, which responded to the shooting, has now released footage taken during Garcés Pérez’s arrest. asserted
which → respond → arrest
However, three officials at the Department of Homeland Security told The Atlantic that the ICE agent who shot the 28-year-old was not wearing his body camera and was hired just last year. asserted
who → tell → camera
ICE agents are required to switch on their cameras before enforcement actions take place and may only stop recording them once the incident has concluded. uncertain
incident → require → them
The sources did not name the agent to The Atlantic, but confirmed that he has previously worked with a different federal law enforcement agency. asserted
he → name → agency
Officials told NBC News that the agent had been issued a body camera but that he was not wearing it. asserted
he → tell → it
“Before we hear anything from ICE about ‘we pulled him over’ or ‘he was fleeing’ or ‘he was aggressive,’” Garcés Pérez’s attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, wrote on X, “our response to any statements like this is: ‘We won’t believe you until you show us...show us your body cam footage, show us your dash cam footage. asserted
you → hear → footage
“Otherwise nobody believes you.” asserted
nobody → believe → you
One of the unnamed officials told The Atlantic the shooting was preceded by ICE agents trying to pull the 28-year-old’s vehicle over, with Garcés Pérez allegedly driving away - allegedly almost striking an officer in the process. uncertain
Pérez → tell → process
The sources said the moment was captured on a second ICE agent’s body camera. asserted
moment → say → camera
The agents tried to detain Garcés Pérez, but the Venezuelan man began driving away once again. asserted
man → try → Pérez
That was when the officer opened fire, the sources say. asserted
sources → open → fire
During a press conference, Garcés Pérez shared his own account of the incident by phone and via a translator. asserted
Pérez → share → translator
He claimed that he performed a U-turn and was trying to park when officers rammed his car and shot him in the back of the neck. asserted
officers → claim → neck
Lincoln-Goldfinch said the bullet still remains in her client’s body and that he had to be transferred back to the hospital from the ICE facility, after he began to experience difficulty in lifting his arm. asserted
he → say → arm
The attorney also says her client lawfully entered the U.S. after being inspected by the CBP and issued a work permit. asserted
client → say → permit
The DHS claims that this work permit expired in 2025. uncertain
permit → claim → 2025
Garcés Pérez’s deportation order was issued in absentia because the hearing notice was sent to the wrong address, Lincoln-Goldfinch says. asserted
Goldfinch → issue → address
DoorDash told NBC News that it is conducting an investigation into the shooting. asserted
it → tell → shooting
This is the latest in a series of similar incidents involving ICE agents, following the fatal shooting of a Mexican man named Lorenzo Salgado Araujo by an ICE officer in Houston two months ago. asserted
This → involve → Houston
The DHS says Salgado Araujo rammed an ICE vehicle and “weaponized his vehicle” in an attempt to run over an agent. asserted
Araujo → say → agent
Government data analyzed by The Associated Press and published by the Deportation Data Project stated that ICE made 49,571 arrests in July alone. asserted
ICE → analyze → July
At the start of the year, the DHS stated that it had received 220,000 applications to join ICE and that it had 12,000 new agents operating across the country. asserted
it → state → country
The Independent has contacted the DHS and DoorDash for comment. asserted
Independent → contact → comment
💬Give feedback
🕘History 🎫Support