A damaged car remained at the scene after officials reported a shooting involving Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Austin, Texas, September 20. (Shahrzad Rasekh/Reuters)
ICE shoots delivery driver North Austin after foot pursuit
Note: AI technology was used to generate this article’s audio.
- Mayor Watson rejected federal self-policing, demanding APD and Texas Rangers oversight.
- Representative Casar demanded bodycam footage as enforcement surges sparked local protests.
A federal Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent shot and injured an adult male in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, city officials confirmed.
The incident occurred just before 1 p.m. on the city’s north side near Anderson Square and US Route 183, according to Austin EMS Chief Robert Luckritz. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis noted that the encounter may have involved a foot chase with the federal agent.
Emergency responders transported the man to Dell Seton Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the torso, where he remains in stable but serious condition.
Video footage captured by CNN affiliate KVUE and witness recordings at the scene showed a blue Toyota Corolla with damage to the front passenger door and at least two apparent bullet holes in the right rear window.
Push for independent investigation
Austin Mayor Kirk Watson clarified that local police were not involved in the shooting itself, though local investigators arrived at the scene to perform traffic control.
Watson openly questioned whether ICE is capable of conducting an independent investigation into its own officers, confirming that the Texas Rangers and Austin Police Department will participate in the process.
"While I’m unhappy and I’m angry about it, I’m not surprised at all," Watson said regarding the shooting. "It’s happened in other cities with the nature of ICE and the way ICE is doing its business these days."
Democratic US Representative Greg Casar, whose district includes Austin, stated it remains unclear whether the victim—who works as a delivery driver—is a US citizen or if he was the specific target of an ICE operation.
Casar, who spoke with members of the victim's family as they attempted to visit him in the hospital, called for an immediate independent investigation.
"ICE needs to get out of our city and start telling people the truth," Casar told CNN. "We need the facts in this case to really understand what fully happened, but what we are seeing from ICE in Texas and across the country is unacceptable."
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
Inquiries directed to Republican Governor Greg Abbott’s office and the Texas Department of Public Safety also yielded no immediate response.
The shooting comes amidst an enforcement surge by the Trump administration targeting several Democrat-led cities, including Los Angeles, Chicago, Minneapolis, and Austin.
During recent operations nationwide, federal officers have fatally shot at least four people, including two American citizens, as well as a Mexican national during a July traffic stop in Houston.
In response to the Austin shooting, the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) called on Congress to institute independent oversight of federal immigration enforcement.
"No agency should be the sole judge of its own conduct," said Roman Palomares, LULAC chair and national president. "When the government takes or endangers a life, the Constitution demands due process and accountability, and those protections belong to every person in this country."
On Sunday afternoon, dozens of demonstrators gathered near the shooting site, crossing the roadway and waving Mexican flags as a line of police officers in helmets monitored the crowd behind yellow caution tape.
