Travis County DA Garza says the federal government has not shared evidence with Austin police on the ICE shooting
José GarzaTravis County District Attorney
Travis County District Attorney José Garza said information had so far flowed from Austin police to federal law enforcement, and that it was incredibly important for it to flow both ways. He said that, to his knowledge, the federal government had not shared any evidence with Austin police or responded to Austin police's request to participate in or interview the ICE agent who fired.
“So far, the information has been flowing from the Austin Police Department to federal law enforcement officials, and as we sit here today, three days away from this shooting, it is incredibly important that the information start to flow both ways To my knowledge, at this point, the federal government has not shared any evidence with the Austin Police Department, and importantly, has not responded to a request from the Austin Police Department to be able to participate in or be allowed to interview the ICE agent who discharged his weapon here in Travis County this past Sunday”
Official statement
Official statement
Reporting
Where this statement fits
Should DHS lead the investigation of the ICE shooting of a delivery driver in Austin?
On September 20, 2026, according to Austin officials, an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan DoorDash driver, in North Austin, Texas. DHS said Homeland Security Investigations, with FBI assistance, would lead the investigation and described him as an “illegal alien” with a final order of removal who is in federal custody pending removal. His attorney disputes that he entered illegally and says he has a valid work permit. Austin's mayor, Democratic members of Congress and the League of United Latin American Citizens question DHS's and ICE's credibility and have called for an independent investigation. Rep. Chip Roy, a Republican, repeated DHS's description of the man. On September 29, federal prosecutors charged him with assaulting and resisting a federal officer, and the U.S. Attorney's Office said ICE's Homeland Security Investigations is investigating that case.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Official statement from the Travis County District Attorney's Office, issued the day of the shooting. It asks for an independent investigation and for federal cooperation in giving local investigators access to the evidence.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Official statement
About this source
The Travis County District Attorney's Office said it asked DHS and ICE to halt removal proceedings against Garces Perez while the local investigation continues. The request seeks to preserve his ability to participate as a material witness; it does not represent a decision by DHS, ICE, or a court.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Reporting
About this source
CNN's running account of the shooting, first published September 22, 2026 and updated September 24. The section on the district attorney reports what Garza told CNN on September 23 about evidence sharing between federal and local investigators.
Before the quotation
On September 20, the Travis County District Attorney's Office said an independent investigation was critical and asked that Austin police and the district attorney be co-equal partners in the investigation. On September 22, it asked DHS and ICE to halt removal proceedings against Wilber Rafael Garces Perez while the investigation continues.
After the quotation
Garza said his office was seeking access to video evidence, including body-camera and vehicle-camera footage, and an interview with the ICE agent who fired.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The case asks whether DHS should lead the investigation of the shooting. Garza said information had so far flowed from Austin police to federal officials and that it was incredibly important for it to flow both ways. He said that, to his knowledge, federal officials had not shared any evidence or answered Austin police's request to participate in or interview the ICE agent. His office had also asked to be a co-equal partner in an independent investigation. That criticizes how the federal-led investigation was being handled, so we labeled it Condemned.
- Recorded on
- Published here
- People and groups discussed
- U.S. Department of Homeland Security
More from this case
Read the full caseAustin Council Member Vanessa Fuentes says local law enforcement should join the ICE shooting investigation
“ICE cannot investigate itself, and so it’s important that we have our local law enforcement agency involved in that investigation”Read statement
Castro calls for an independent investigation of the Austin ICE shooting
“There must be an independent investigation, and the ICE officers who shot Wilber in the back should be held accountable.”Read statement
Doggett calls for ICE to release any available body-camera footage
“We don’t know enough because ICE as usual is not providing the facts. They should’ve already released any body camera footage that they had.”Read statement
Share or embed this statement
The embed keeps its attribution link to The Dispute Index. Credit the image to The Dispute Index and link to the statement page.
Cite this record
- Publisher
- The Dispute Index
- Title
- Travis County DA Garza says the federal government has not shared evidence with Austin police on the ICE shooting
- First published
- Last updated
- Permalink
- https://disputeindex.com/events/2796-travis-county-district-attorney-jos%C3%A9-garza-said-information
Last updated marks the most recent saved version of this published statement.
The Dispute Index. "Travis County DA Garza says the federal government has not shared evidence with Austin police on the ICE shooting". First published: 2026-09-26. Last updated: 2026-09-26. https://disputeindex.com/events/2796-travis-county-district-attorney-jos%C3%A9-garza-said-information