Wilber Garces Perez, the man who was shot and killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent in North Austin last month, underwent surgery Thursday.
His lawyer, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he was now recovering and had spoken to his family.
According to a press release sent on behalf of Lincoln-Goldfinch and Daniel Woodward of the Texas Civil Rights Project, ICE would not grant Garces Perez’s wife access to the operating room.
He was shot and killed Sept. 20 after fleeing a traffic stop, according to court documents. As of Thursday, he had a bullet lodged in his back for about 11 days.
“This is a matter of public safety,” the lawyers said in their press release. “Federal agents cannot act as judge, jury and executioner on our streets. We see officers passing plates, making high-risk stops of people with no criminal records, and failing to wear or activate the cameras meant to hold them accountable.”
The officer who shot Garces Perez, a Venezuelan national, was not wearing a body camera, according to Rick Bazan, a Department of Homeland Security special agent who testified in court Wednesday. The other officer involved had turned off his body camera before arriving on scene.
Garces Perez faces up to 20 years in prison for allegedly assaulting, resisting, interfering and obstructing a federal agent.
He is being held by the U.S. Marshals Service, according to his attorney, following a judge’s ruling that he poses a flight risk and will remain in custody.
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