English
An Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and wounded a man in North Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon, sparking immediate calls for an independent investigation and drawing sharp criticism from local officials and federal lawmakers. The victim suffered a gunshot wound to the torso and arrived at a local hospital in serious but stable condition, according to Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Robert Luckritz.
What Happened at the Scene
The shooting took place around 1 p.m. in North Austin. Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said a brief foot pursuit occurred before the ICE agent fired. Davis confirmed that city police investigators responded to the scene. She also said she had made contact with Homeland Security Investigations and other state law enforcement agencies.
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Austin Mayor Kirk Watson made clear that the Austin Police Department played no role in the incident. Authorities had not yet confirmed the victim’s nationality or whether he was the intended target of an ICE operation. Chief Davis acknowledged those questions “still need to be answered.”
Residents gathered across the street from the shooting site shortly after the incident. One woman, who told NBC News she had lived in Austin for 33 years, said she had never seen anything like it. “It broke my heart,” she said.
Officials and Lawmakers React
Mayor Watson expressed frustration at a news conference following the shooting. “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,” he said. Watson added that while he was angry, he was “not surprised at all.”
Watson also said he had asked for the city of Austin to participate in any forthcoming investigations. He wants the police department to “be in a position to offer clear third-party eyes and expertise.”
U.S. Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat from Texas, demanded an independent investigation, the release of body camera footage, and “accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law.” In a post on X, Casar wrote: “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.”
Fellow Texas Democrat and U.S. Representative Joaquin Castro also called for “full accountability.” Castro said on X that President Trump “has allowed ICE to flood our streets and put our communities in harm’s way again and again.”
Calls for Oversight of Immigration Enforcement
The League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest Latino civil rights organization in the United States, responded to the shooting by urging Congress to establish independent oversight of immigration enforcement operations.
Meanwhile, the White House directed NBC News to the Department of Homeland Security for comment. A DHS spokesperson said officials “will look into it.”
The Austin shooting follows a similar incident two months earlier in Houston. In that case, an ICE officer fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a Mexican national, during an attempted traffic stop related to an immigration arrest. DHS stated that Salgado Araujo was in the country illegally and had attempted to run over agents. However, the agency has not provided evidence to support those claims.
Together, the two incidents have intensified scrutiny of ICE’s use of force during immigration enforcement operations and fueled growing demands for greater transparency and independent oversight at the federal level.
