Venezuelan Shot and ‘Denied Urgent Medical Care’ Released From Hospital

As our own Aaron Walker reported on Sunday night, a 28-year-old Venezuelan national named Wilber Rafael Garces Perez was shot and wounded by an ICE agent in Austin, Texas. The woman representing Perez posted on Monday that he was shot while making a DoorDash delivery, adding that "the hospital refused to give his wife access to him or provide any meaningful details on his condition." So he was taken to a hospital? You wouldn't know by listening to Rep. Ro Khanna, who claimed that Perez was "denied urgent medical care." He got this take from The Bulwark's Tim Miller, who said that rather than get Perez medical help, ICE carted him off to a detention complex.

No one should be shot in the back and denied urgent medical care.

The shooting of Venezuelan DoorDash driver Wilber Garcés Pérez by ICE in Austin demands a full investigation.

Abolish ICE. Prosecute rogue agents. https://t.co/pTkONki88P
— Ro Khanna (@RoKhanna) September 21, 2026

Both Miller's and Khanna's posts have proposed Community Notes:

The man was taken to Dell Seton Medical Center by EMS in serious but stable condition and released to ICE custody around 4:30 p.m. Sunday, hours after the shooting. The bullet remains lodged near his spine per his statements and attorney.

He received urgent medical care at Dell Seton Medical Center and was then released into ICE custody.

ABC News reported "JUST IN" on Tuesday afternoon that Perez had been released from the hospital.

JUST IN: Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, the 28-year-old Venezuelan who was shot Sunday by an ICE officer in Austin, Texas, has been released from the hospital and is back in federal custody, according to his attorney. https://t.co/StIdk0CmnD
— ABC News (@ABC) September 22, 2026

ABC News spoke to Perez's attorney:

Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, the 28-year-old Venezuelan who was shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin, Texas, on Sunday, has been released from the hospital and is back in federal custody, according to his attorney.
Garces Perez's attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said in a social media post on Tuesday that her client was transferred back to a federal detention facility in Pearsall, Texas, after being treated at a hospital.
Lincoln-Goldfinch said that she spoke with Garces Perez by video Tuesday morning and he told her that since returning to the detention facility, Garces Perez has only been "receiving Tylenol and ibuprofen for pain." He also said he has had his communication privileges revoked, allegedly in retaliation for speaking to reporters by phone during a news conference on Monday, according to Lincoln-Goldfinch.