Who Is Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez? What We Know About the Doordash Driver Shot by ICE in Austin

A federal agent's bullet turned an ordinary Sunday shift into a serious injury, and within hours, into a street protest. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national working as a DoorDash driver, was shot in the torso by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in North Austin on 20 September 2026.

He survived and was later released into ICE custody, but questions about exactly who he is, and how he ended up at the centre of a crowd calling for ICE to leave the city, have driven the story since. The shooting remains under investigation.

Who Is Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez?

Garcés Pérez is from Yaritagua, Venezuela, according to a Facebook profile that appears to belong to him. He has lived in Austin for about two years, his immigration attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, told the Austin American-Statesman.

His wife, Elizdar, hired Lincoln-Goldfinch to handle his immigration case, the attorney told NPR. Elizdar also received a call from her husband moments after he was shot: 'I've been shot,' he told her, before the line went dead.

Lincoln-Goldfinch has said her client has no criminal record, though that claim has not been independently established. DoorDash confirmed Garcés Pérez was making a delivery when he was shot and said its Dashers are independent contractors, not employees.

Asylum Seeker or 'Illegal Alien'?

Exactly how Garcés Pérez came to the United States is contested. Lincoln-Goldfinch told NBC News he was an asylum seeker who entered through a parole programme, and told CBS News that, based on the information available to her, he 'entered the United States lawfully', though she said she could not confirm his current status.

DHS's account differs sharply. A spokesperson told Newsweek he was an 'illegal alien', and the department said on X that he had entered the country illegally under the Biden administration and had a final order of removal. His attorney disputes that account, saying he entered lawfully and had a valid work permit..

Protests Erupt at the Shooting Scene

Demonstrators gathered at Anderson Square as the afternoon continued, slowing traffic. Protesters waved Mexican flags, chanted 'Abolish ICE' and held signs reading 'Nobody is safe' and 'ICE Nazi'.

David Torres of Dare to Struggle called for the ICE agent to face charges and for deportations to stop, saying the incident would continue unless deportations ended. Jaasiel Avilva, a 22-year-old Army veteran, told CNN: 'I've lived in Austin all my life, but from what I've been seeing right now, I've never felt more betrayed.'

Officers eventually used pepper balls to push demonstrators back from the active investigation scene, and Texas Department of Public Safety officers detained several people as the protest continued into the evening.

Mayor Kirk Watson, who called for an independent investigation, told reporters at the scene: 'Austinites also have a right to feel safe in their city.' Representative Greg Casar, whose district covers part of Austin, said: 'It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep. For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here.'

From Hospital to Ice Custody

Garcés Pérez's movements after the shooting became a story in their own right. He was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center, where staff initially told his wife and lawyer, after they had gone first to the shooting scene, that he was not there and asked them to leave the property.

Roughly two hours later, and after Mayor Watson personally intervened, a hospital attorney told Lincoln-Goldfinch that Garcés Pérez had been released, at around 4:30pm, directly into ICE custody.

By Monday morning, she said she had learned he was being held at the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall. The account about the hospital's initial response was provided by his attorney.

The shooting is not an isolated case; the Texas Tribune reported it was at least the third such incident involving an ICE agent shooting a person in Texas since March 2025, coming more than two months after an ICE officer fatally shot a man in Houston.