Austin ICE Shooting Victim, 28, Needs Spine Surgery as Officer Had No Body Camera
Updated
Updated · The Texas Tribune · Sep 23
Austin ICE Shooting Victim, 28, Needs Spine Surgery as Officer Had No Body Camera
3 articles · Updated · The Texas Tribune · Sep 23
Summary
Rep. Greg Casar said Wilber Rafael Garces Perez needs surgery after a specialist found the bullet shot into his back remains lodged near his spine.
Wednesday's visit to the Pearsall detention center found the 28-year-old in a wheelchair, with his left arm in a sling, heavy bruising and severe pain; Casar said he received his first pain injection only an hour earlier.
Unnamed DHS officials told multiple outlets the ICE officer who fired Sunday had been issued a body camera but was not wearing it, while another officer's footage did not capture the shooting.
DHS has defended the incident as following a dangerous attempt to evade arrest during a North Austin traffic stop, but Garces Perez says officers in an unmarked SUV sideswiped him before he realized they were trying to pull him over.
The case adds to scrutiny of ICE body-camera use after other recent shootings; Garces Perez's lawyers are also seeking to block his deportation and win his release at a Sept. 30 federal hearing.