A 28-year-old DoorDash driver was shot and seriously wounded by a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent Sunday in North Austin, then transferred to federal immigration detention about four hours later while the bullet reportedly remained lodged in his upper back. Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was driving near Anderson Square and U.S. 183 on Sept. 20 when, according to his attorney, an unmarked black truck sideswiped his car. Garces Perez told his attorney he believed the incident involved an aggressive driver and attempted to make a U-turn beneath the highway overpass. The vehicle allegedly sideswiped him again before agents got out and opened fire. Attorney Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch said Monday that Garces Perez was shot through the rear window, with the bullet entering his upper back near his neck. The account has not been independently established, and federal authorities have not publicly provided a detailed explanation of the shooting. Austin-Travis County EMS said it was notified by the Austin Police Department at 12:56 p.m. Paramedics found Garces Perez with a gunshot wound and transported him to Dell Seton Medical Center in serious but stable condition, EMS Chief Rob Luckritz said. At a Monday news conference, Garces Perez described his treatment through a translator during a phone call from detention. He said he was in severe pain and asked whether doctors would remove the bullet. According to the account relayed by the translator, he was told that ICE agents were in a hurry to take him out of the hospital. Lincoln-Goldfinch said the bullet remained in his body because it was close to his spine. Garces Perez said he received no pain medication and spent Sunday night in a cold room without a bed after being transferred around 4:30 p.m. to the South Texas ICE Processing Center in Pearsall, southwest of Austin. Lincoln-Goldfinch said he was being held there for questioning. The rapid transfer initially left Garces Perez’s family without information about his condition. Lincoln-Goldfinch said reports that he had died circulated after the shooting, causing his wife, Elizdar, to panic. The family learned around 6 p.m. that he had been released from the hospital into ICE custody after Mayor Kirk Watson helped coordinate communication with the hospital. Garces Perez came to the United States from Venezuela in 2024 seeking asylum. Lincoln-Goldfinch and U.S. Rep. Greg Casar said he had been inspected and admitted at the border and authorized to work legally. His attorney said an immigration court notice was sent to an old address, and that he missed the hearing after the notice did not reach him, resulting in an in-absentia deportation order. The Department of Homeland Security said Sunday that Garces Perez had entered the country illegally and had a final order of removal, a characterization disputed by his attorney and supporters. The shooting prompted protests near the scene, where demonstrators denounced ICE. Authorities later used tear gas and pepper spray, including in the presence of children, according to the account provided at Monday’s news conference. Another protest was planned at the Texas Capitol. Austin officials are pressing for an investigation separate from federal agencies. City Council members Vanessa Fuentes, José Velásquez and Chito Vela called on ICE to leave Austin and asked APD to investigate, with the Travis County District Attorney’s Office reviewing the evidence. They said residents deserve transparency and accountability and expressed no confidence in an internal investigation by the federal agencies involved. Watson said APD would participate in the investigation with an independent third party and that officials had asked the agents involved to remain in Texas so they could comply with the inquiry. The shooting occurred after weeks of warnings from Austin and local officials about increased ICE activity in North Austin. Casar said Sunday that he and other officials had warned that the expanded federal presence could result in someone being shot. U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett called the incident the latest example of ICE brutality and questioned why Garces Perez was in detention rather than receiving surgery. The circumstances of the shooting, the decision to transfer him from the hospital and the care he received in custody remain subject to investigation.