Austin ICE shooting: Man shot by agents formally indicted

AUSTIN, Texas - A man shot by an ICE officer in North Austin last month has been formally indicted in federal court.

28-year-old Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was indicted Oct. 20 on one count of assaulting, resisting, impeding and obstructing a federal officer.

PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Austin ICE shooting: Bond denied for man shot by ICE agent; he's now in federal criminal custody

What they're saying:

The one-page indictment claims Perez "used a deadly and dangerous weapon during the commission of the offense, namely a motor vehicle."

The indictment only identifies the ICE agents involved by initials.

Perez had been charged on Sept. 30, 10 days after the shooting. He has been in federal criminal custody since his bond was denied.

His immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, told media on Sept. 30 that despite his bond being denied, his immigration case would still continue.

If he is convicted, Perez could face up to 20 years in federal prison.

What happened during the ICE traffic stop?

The backstory:

According to a nine-page criminal complaint, ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations officers stopped Perez on Sept. 20 after confirming he had a final order of removal from an immigration judge.

The officers said Perez gave them his driver’s license but ignored repeated requests to put his vehicle in park and step out. The complaint says the officers gave him additional instructions in Spanish before he abruptly closed his window and drove away.

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Prosecutors allege the driver’s side mirror struck one of the officers in the torso.

The officers then pursued Perez with their emergency lights and sirens activated. One officer told investigators that Perez later tried to hit him with his car, prompting the officer to fire his gun.

The complaint says Perez was struck in the back.

Perez has maintained that he wanted to park his vehicle before driving away.

The other side:

Perez's legal team provided a statement to FOX 7 Austin when Perez was charged, saying:

"Today, as a surprise to his legal team, Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan immigrant who was shot by ICE in a traffic altercation on Sunday, September 20, appeared in federal court after being charged with a count of assaulting, resisting, interfering with, and impeding a federal officer. His attorneys only learned of this appearance due to a pre-scheduled meeting they had with him this morning, in which he did not appear.

Nine days after being shot by ICE, Wilber still has a bullet lodged in his back. Medical professionals say he’s in grave danger because of it. This morning, when his attorneys were finally able to see him, he was in considerable pain, dizzy, and needed pain medication, which had not been provided. Rather than provide the life-saving medical care he needs, DHS and the government are playing games with his life.

This is another example that demonstrates that the government doesn't care — the same way it didn't care about Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, killed in Houston, and Joan Sebastian Guerrero, a young father killed in Maine.

This is a developing situation, and our team remains focused on it."

DHS officials have said Perez has received medical care and medication. Perez’s attorneys are calling for the full body-camera footage to be released. They have also filed a lawsuit seeking to stop his removal from the United States.

Austin ICE shooting: Wilber Perez in federal court

The backstory:

The hearing on Sept. 30 focused on his alleged assault on an officer before shots rang out.

At the United States Courthouse in Downtown Austin, he attended a federal criminal bail hearing. For several hours, the court reviewed evidence from the moments leading up to the shooting, as well as questioning a Department of Homeland Security investigator, with a heavy focus on the initial traffic stop conducted by ICE agents. 

Federal prosecutors allege that on Sept. 20, federal agents stopped Perez after confirming he had a final order of removal. The officers said that Perez gave them his driver's license but ignored repeated requests to put his vehicle in park and step out. 

The federal complaint says the officers gave him additional instructions in Spanish before he abruptly closed his windows and drove away. It was during this time that prosecutors claim the driver's side mirror struck one of the officers in the torso. 

Much of Wednesday afternoon was spent reviewing the body camera footage of one of the ICE agents who conducted the traffic stop. The angle was from the agent assisting in the stop, not the federal officer who was allegedly struck by the vehicle. It was announced in court that footage of the incident would not be made available to the public.

During the hearing's arguments, the court worked to determine if there was probable cause that Garces Perez assaulted a federal officer during the traffic stop. The defense claimed there was no violence involved and that Garces Perez was not a flight risk. They continued by saying that Garces Perez wants to stay in the U.S. with his wife during his immigration case, as well as undergo medical procedures he wants done within the country.

After more than three hours of deliberation, the judge came to a decision. It was declared that Garces Perez's bond was denied for his criminal charges, with a ruling that there was probable cause that he had assaulted an ICE agent. Garces Perez was not deemed a danger to the public but was a flight risk due to his family ties outside the country. 

What happened in the ICE shooting on Sept. 20 in Austin?

Timeline:

Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Rob Luckritz said emergency crews were notified of a reported shooting at about 12:56 p.m. in the 8000 block of Anderson Square.

Paramedics arrived within about 3 1/2 minutes and found an adult man with a gunshot wound. The man was transported to a local trauma center in serious but stable condition.

APD Chief Lisa Davis initially stated that the shooting involved a federal agent and later confirmed she had been told the agent was with ICE. Austin police were not involved in the shooting. 

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Perez told immigration attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch that he was driving for DoorDash when an unmarked car sideswiped him. He did not know it was ICE.

He told Lincoln-Goldfinch that he did a U-turn under the highway and was then sideswiped again. He then said the agents got out of the unmarked car and shot him in the back of the neck. They then pulled him from the car.

RELATED COVERAGE: Austin ICE shooting: New details released on man shot by ICE agents

Lincoln-Goldfinch said there was no foot chase. However, ICE said there was a foot chase.

DHS officials have confirmed that Perez is from Venezuela and say he entered the country illegally and had a final order of removal.

Perez was taken into federal custody to the South Texas ICE processing center in Pearsall.

Austin police release footage

New video released by APD appears to show Perez was involved in a traffic stop with federal agents before leading them on a pursuit, minutes before he was shot by a federal agent.

RELATED COVERAGE: Austin ICE shooting: APD releases body cam footage, cellphone video

APD released video captured on an off-duty APD detective's personal dashcam and cellphone, as well as body camera footage from an on-duty officer.

Reports by The Atlantic and FOX News indicated there may be no body camera footage from ICE's perspective of the incident.

Multiple federal law enforcement sources told FOX News that there is no ICE bodycam footage from the incident, FOX's Bill Melugin said on social media.

The Atlantic's Nick Miroff also stated that three DHS officials had told him that the officer was a "recent hire who was not wearing his body camera."