Immigration Agents Open Fire in Over 31 Incidents, 9 Dead
The newest flashpoint is the Sept. 20 shooting of Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, a Venezuelan delivery driver, by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officer in Austin, Texas. Federal prosecutors nonetheless charged him on Sept. 29 with assaulting, resisting, interfering with and impeding a federal officer. A detention hearing is scheduled for Oct. 2. His attorney says he disputes parts of the government's version of events and remains in custody with a bullet still lodged in his back.
The Trace, a US gun violence tracker, has counted at least 31 incidents in which immigration agents fired on people since Trump began his crackdown last year. Nine people died and 15 were wounded. The nonprofit logged 49 more cases in which agents pointed guns at bystanders, protesters or others in what it called “questionable circumstances.”
Deaths in detention are adding to the pressure. Federal records show 56 people died in ICE custody between Jan. 23, 2025, and Aug. 23, 2026.
Below are some of the key shootings, deaths in custody and efforts to establish accountability.
Austin, Texas: Delivery driver wounded
Garces Perez, 28, was working for DoorDash when he was shot during a traffic stop involving ICE officers on Sept. 20. He says officers in unmarked vehicles hit his car and opened fire as he tried to pull over.
His lawyer told Texas Public Radio that he suffered a broken collarbone and has trouble moving.
Federal authorities say the Venezuelan national was under a final deportation order and was trying to evade arrest. Footage released by Austin police shows the aftermath but does not establish why the officer fired. Local and state authorities are investigating.
Travis County prosecutors and a group of lawmakers have urged federal authorities to halt his removal, arguing he may be needed for an investigation and any prosecution. In a letter signed by more than 100 lawmakers, they wrote: "Garces Perez is a key witness to this shooting, and given ICE's history of obscuring the facts in similar investigations, he must not be removed."
Biddeford, Maine: Colombian man killed
An ICE officer shot and killed Johan Sebastian Duran Guerrero, 25, a Colombian national, during a vehicle encounter in Biddeford on July 13, 2026. He worked as a food delivery driver and cleaner and had a 3-year-old daughter. Local reporting indicates he was not the person agents had originally been looking for.
Authorities said the officer fired while “fearing for public safety,” but offered few details. The shooting set off protests and an investigation by the Maine attorney general's office.
US Rep. Chellie Pingree, a Maine Democrat, said Guerrero had a pending asylum application and a valid work permit. She pressed the Department of Homeland Security for answers and voiced concern over the absence of video footage.
Houston, Texas: Construction worker killed en route to job
Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, 52, a Mexican national and father of three US citizens, was driving his construction crew to a job when an ICE officer shot him dead on July 7, 2026. An account entered into the Congressional Record says he had lived in the US for nearly 35 years.
Federal authorities claim he tried to hit an officer with his van. Passengers dispute that, telling The Texas Tribune that unmarked vehicles rammed the van, which had already stopped before the shooting. Their accounts place officers beside the vehicle when shots were fired.
His family has demanded an independent investigation.
Minneapolis, Minnesota: Veterans' nurse killed
Alex Pretti, 37, an intensive care nurse at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs hospital, was fatally shot by federal immigration personnel on Jan. 24, 2026. Colleagues recalled his devotion to critically ill veterans, and nurses and other health workers gathered for a vigil near the scene.
Federal officials first described Pretti as an armed threat. Video, however, shows him filming with his phone and stepping in as officers confronted a woman, before he was taken to the ground and shot. The footage undercut the government's account and sharpened calls for an independent investigation.
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