ICE officer shoots man in Austin, protests erupt and city seeks independent probe
A US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, local authorities said, as anti-ICE protesters gathered at the scene soon after the incident.
The man, whose identity has not been made public, was taken to hospital after being shot once in the torso and was in serious but stable condition, Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis said at a press conference with Mayor Kirk Watson and other city officials. The city administration said it wants Austin police to be involved in the investigation.
Davis said Austin police officers were not involved in the operation or in the shooting, which took place after a traffic stop on the city's north side. She said there were still few facts available so soon after the incident, but added that her department's special investigation unit was at the scene.
The Department of Homeland Security, which oversees ICE, did not take part in the press conference and did not immediately respond to requests for details.
Watson, a Democrat, said he wants the city's police department to be part of the investigation so it can provide "clear, third-party eyes" in the process. He said he does not think it would be appropriate for ICE to investigate the shooting on its own.
"Austin residents have a right to feel safe in their city," Watson said, adding that a proper investigation would only enhance credibility.
Davis said she did not yet know the nationality of the man who was shot. Local media reported that a dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under an overpass with damage to its passenger-side door and what appeared to be bullet holes.
A large law enforcement presence was seen at the spot, along with about a hundred protesters. Some demonstrators shouted at police officers carrying riot shields, while others raised slogans as passing vehicles honked in support of the protest. One man held a sign that read, "Nobody is safe" and, on the other side, "ICE Nazi."
Asked if Austin authorities knew where the federal agent involved in the shooting was, given that agents have left states after earlier shootings elsewhere in the US, Watson said: "We do not know that. But my hope would be that, an agent that's involved in an officer-involved shooting would not leave the city. Certainly not leave the state."
US Representative Greg Casar, a Democrat whose district includes parts of Austin, called for transparency in the investigation. "It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep," Casar told reporters. "For Austin to be safe, ICE should end its surge here."
The shooting came as ICE increases enforcement across the country this summer, with more than 50,000 arrests a month in July and August for the first time in its history. In July, an ICE officer fatally shot 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo of Houston after federal agents in unmarked vehicles pursued him while he was taking his construction crew to a job site.
Also in July, 25-year-old Johan Sebastian, a Colombian man, was shot by an ICE officer in Maine. Several of the officer's close relatives told The Associated Press that he was an Army veteran who had struggled with serious mental health issues since early childhood and should never have been given a badge and gun to patrol American streets. The administration's enforcement efforts were also widely condemned last winter after the killings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota.
In sum, the Austin shooting left one man seriously hurt, drew swift protests and prompted demands for an independent investigation, even as it added to scrutiny of ICE's wider enforcement drive and earlier shootings linked to the agency.
