Key takeaways:
- The man was shot in the torso around 1 p.m. Sunday and was hospitalized in serious but stable condition, officials said.
- Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said the man’s nationality and whether he was the target of an ICE operation were not immediately clear.
- Rep. Greg Casar demanded an independent investigation, body camera footage and accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.
A federal immigration agent shot and seriously injured a man Sunday afternoon in Austin, Texas, prompting demands from local officials and a member of Congress for an independent investigation and the release of body camera footage.
The man was taken to a local hospital after being shot in the torso and was in serious but stable condition, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz said at a news conference. Authorities said the shooting happened around 1 p.m.
Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said investigators were at the scene and that she was in contact with Homeland Security Investigations and state law enforcement agencies. She said it was not immediately clear what the man’s nationality is or whether he was the target of an Immigration and Customs Enforcement operation.
Those questions “still need to be answered,” Davis said.
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said the Austin Police Department was not involved in the shooting. He said he has asked for the city to be included in any investigations that follow.
“A person being shot on the streets of Austin by someone purporting to be law enforcement, particularly when it’s ICE, is something that causes me to be unhappy and angry,” Watson said at the news conference. “While I’m unhappy and I’m angry about it, I’m not surprised at all.”
Councilmember Mike Siegel told NPR he was at the scene, which he said is just blocks from his home. He said he saw at least two bullet holes in the passenger side of the man’s car, and NPR reported that photos from the scene confirmed that account. Video provided by Siegel showed at least one uninjured person in civilian clothes being placed in handcuffs at the scene, according to NPR.
“This is a terrible incident that we were hoping to avoid in our community,” Siegel told NPR. “My hope today is that we can investigate what happened, and if an (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) officer committed a crime that they will be fully prosecuted, and then we can hope to restore some semblance of law and order in this country.”
Dozens of community members gathered to protest at the scene, NPR reported.
U.S. Rep. Greg Casar, a Democrat who represents Austin, called for an independent investigation, the release of body camera footage and “accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.”
“Over and over, ICE has shot people and then lied about what happened. We can see the lies with our own eyes. We will demand truth, transparency and accountability,” Casar said in a post on X. NPR reported that Casar also referenced the deadly shooting of Renee Good in Minneapolis earlier this year, saying video footage disproved Department of Homeland Security claims that Good was trying to run over ICE agents with a vehicle.
The Department of Homeland Security did not immediately respond to NPR’s request for comment. NBC News said it had reached out to DHS and the White House for comment.
Sunday’s shooting was at least the second involving federal immigration agents in Texas this year, according to NPR. In July, an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a 52-year-old Mexican national and father of three, in Houston during an attempted traffic stop. NPR reported that Salgado Araujo was not the target of the warrant agents were trying to execute.
NPR also reported that Ruben Ray Martinez was killed by immigration agents in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025, and was the first person killed by immigration agents since the start of President Trump’s second term.
Be First to Comment