Texas Immigration Shooting Leads to Charges: The Case Against the Venezuelan Driver Explained
Federal prosecutors in Texas charged Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, a 28-year-old Venezuelan delivery driver, on 29 September 2026 with assaulting, resisting and impeding a federal officer. The charges came nine days after a federal immigration agent shot him in his car in Texas. The Guardian
He made an initial appearance in federal court in Austin that same day. If convicted on the assault charge, he faces up to 20 years in prison.
Prosecutors allege he struck an officer in the torso with his driver’s side view mirror while trying to drive away. The criminal complaint did not say whether the officer was injured.
The government’s account rests on a nine-page affidavit from a Department of Homeland Security agent. The affidavit includes still photos drawn from body-worn cameras, but no video was released. The officer who fired the shot was not wearing a body camera.
Agents said they stopped Garcés Pérez after a database check showed his car was registered to a person with a final order of removal — an immigration court order that a noncitizen must leave the country. Garcés Pérez was making a DoorDash delivery at the time of the encounter.
He was shot in Austin on 20 September 2026 and taken to Dell Seton Medical Center after the shooting. Texas Tribune His attorney has said he still has a bullet lodged in his back. He was in the custody of U.S. marshals after being moved from a federal detention center in South Texas.
His attorneys have filed a lawsuit seeking to stop his removal from the United States. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas described Rafael Garces-Perez as an illegal alien from Venezuela and stated he was federally charged in Austin with assaulting, resisting, interfering, and impeding. U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Texas
The broader context here is procedural as much as factual. The criminal prosecution and the removal case will now run on separate tracks, with different standards of proof, different custodians, and different consequences for Garcés Pérez. The criminal case turns on a narrow sequence: an alleged mirror strike during an attempted departure, followed by gunfire.
Looking at what this means for those following the case, the evidentiary record will matter more than the charging language. Without body-camera footage from the shooter, the affidavit and still images from other officers’ cameras form the central government account unless more material is disclosed. Defense claims about the retained bullet, hospital treatment, and delivery work at the time will test that account on causation, intent, and proportionality. The stop itself raises questions about enforcement practice, including vehicle checks tied to a registered owner with a final order, and how agents establish identity before a detention escalates.
