The gears of law rolled over the noon of September 20.

On the borderlines of law, some stories begin on an ordinary afternoon and end by changing more lives than anyone could have foreseen. In Austin, the September sun was still heavy, and a dispute over identity, enforcement, and survival was unfolding along the path of a bullet.

Federal prosecutors announced Tuesday that a Venezuelan immigrant shot by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in Austin has been charged with assaulting a federal officer. Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, faces one count of assaulting, resisting, or impeding a federal officer, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years if convicted.

According to a nine-page affidavit, the encounter took place around midday on September 20. Garcés was working as a DoorDash delivery driver when ICE officers stopped him near a restaurant. A database check showed he had a final order of removal. The affidavit describes Garcés initially cooperating by handing over his driver's license, with the conversation remaining "calm and non-aggressive," but about a minute later, he suddenly rolled up his window and drove away, his vehicle's side mirror striking an officer in the torso.

The officer, identified as "L.G.," then fired, with the bullet entering through the rear right window and striking Garcés in the back. Another officer gave chase, but according to the affidavit, that officer's dashboard camera was turned off during the pursuit, and the officer who fired was not wearing a body camera. Three Department of Homeland Security officials told reporters the officer who fired was a recent hire.

Garcés's account presents a different picture. His attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, has said ICE officers in an unmarked vehicle "sideswiped" her client's car and fired inside it, and that Garcés "didn't know they were ICE until he was shot." Garcés told investigators he had asked to move his car elsewhere because he wanted his wife to retrieve it, but the officer refused.

Garcés entered the United States legally in 2024 through the CBP One program to seek asylum and held a valid work permit. His attorney said a removal order was issued after a notice was sent to an old address and he missed his immigration court hearing. A federal judge has temporarily blocked his deportation, and he is expected in court Wednesday. He still has a bullet lodged in his back, and his attorney says he is "in serious danger" and urgently needs surgery.

The case has sparked a new round of protests in Austin, with Democrats criticizing the Trump administration's immigration enforcement as overly aggressive. Federal prosecutors maintain that Garcés's actions constituted an assault on law enforcement, based on footage from another officer's body camera — though that video has not been made public.

As the gears of law begin to turn, a delivery driver's afternoon, a bullet left in his body, and a partially recorded encounter together form the full record of this dispute. How the court will weigh what was recorded and what was not, only time will tell.

Images in this report were generated by AI.

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Sources: AP News, Texas Tribune, The Spokesman-Review, The Globe and Mail, Washington Post