The mother of a Venezuelan man who was shot by a federal immigration agent in Austin, Texas, said she was speaking with her son over a video call moments after the shooting and watched as officers pulled him from his vehicle.

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, 28, remains in federal immigration detention four days after the incident, with a bullet still lodged in his back, according to his mother, Flor Perez.

Perez told Reuters that her son called her on Sunday afternoon shortly after he was shot. During the video call, he told her that federal agents had crashed into his car and shot him. She said she then watched an officer pull her son from the vehicle by his arm.

Garces Perez had told his mother that he was working as a DoorDash food delivery driver when the incident occurred. He said the immigration agents sideswiped his vehicle and that they did not identify themselves or activate their emergency lights until after the collision.

The exact sequence of events remains unclear. Videos from the scene do not show the shooting itself, but footage shows Garces Perez injured inside his vehicle during his arrest.

The federal immigration officer who shot Garces Perez was not wearing a body camera, according to a person familiar with the incident. The officer has not been publicly identified and was reportedly hired by Immigration and Customs Enforcement last year after previously working for US Customs and Border Protection.

ICE has not provided its own account of why Garces Perez was shot while sitting in his vehicle. The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, said Garces Perez was the subject of a “targeted vehicle stop” and described resisting officers and attempting to evade arrest as dangerous and illegal.

Federal immigration agents have shot at least 20 people since President Donald Trump returned to office, according to Reuters, with seven of those shootings resulting in deaths. The incidents have drawn protests and criticism from opponents of the administration’s immigration enforcement policies.

Following two fatal shootings during traffic stops in Texas and Maine in July, US border czar Tom Homan said ICE agents would be required to record vehicle stops with at least one body-worn camera. ICE’s acting director had also pledged to equip officers with body cameras by the end of August.

Flor Perez, 51, said she had been unable to speak with her son since the video call and was deeply worried about his condition. Speaking from her home in Barquisimeto, Venezuela, she said her priority was for him to receive medical treatment and have the bullet removed.

She said she had been unable to sleep while worrying about her son’s condition and hoped authorities would take him to a hospital.

Garces Perez’s wound is currently packed with gauze that becomes soaked with blood and reportedly needs to be changed two or three times a day, according to Democratic US Representative Greg Casar of Texas.

Casar said he visited Garces Perez at an ICE detention facility on Wednesday night and described him as being in intense pain. He argued that Garces Perez needed medical treatment rather than remaining in a detention center.

Garces Perez’s attorneys are seeking his release ahead of a federal hearing scheduled for next week.

SOURCE: Reuters, Keren Torres, Julia Harte and Kristina Cooke, September 25, 2026.