An ICE Agent Shot a 28-Year-Old Venezuelan Man in the Torso in North Austin Sunday After a 'Small Foot Pursuit.' His Lawyer Says He Entered Legally and Has a Work Permit. DHS Says He Had a Deportation Order. His Family Was Not Allowed to See Him Before He Was Discharged Into Federal Custody.

A federal immigration agent shot and wounded a 28-year-old Venezuelan man in north Austin, Texas, shortly before 1 p.m. Sunday, the third shooting by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in the state in 18 months. The man, identified by his attorney as Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, was hit once in the upper torso, taken to Dell Seton Medical Center in serious but stable condition, and released Sunday evening into federal custody without his family being permitted to see him.

The shooting happened near Research Boulevard and Anderson Square after what Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis described as a "small foot pursuit," while cautioning that the information was preliminary. The Texas Department of Public Safety said ICE had called troopers for help chasing a blue Toyota Corolla; "before troopers arrived, the ICE agent had shot the man," spokesperson Sheridan Nolen said. The car was left at the scene with at least two bullet holes in its passenger side. City Council Member Mike Siegel said witnesses told him the officer "rammed the man's car, then got out of his federal vehicle and opened fire at least five times."

Garces Perez's attorney, Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, said he "entered the United States lawfully" and holds a valid work permit. She said he called his wife from the hospital "yelling in pain," and that when she and the family arrived, law enforcement "ran us off the property and told us we can't even stand on the driveway." "We are deeply concerned that his wife and family have not been permitted to see him and have not received a meaningful update regarding his current condition or whereabouts," she said. Federal law-enforcement sources told CBS News that agents were seeking a Venezuelan man living in the country illegally and subject to a final deportation order.

The inquiry will be led by Homeland Security Investigations, which is itself a division of ICE, with the FBI assisting. That reverses decades of practice in which the FBI took the lead on shootings by federal officers; the bureau was told in July to stop investigating confrontations involving ICE agents. Austin police and the Texas Rangers will conduct a parallel investigation, and the Travis County District Attorney's Office has requested access to the evidence, saying violations of state law were possible.

Mayor Kirk Watson said he was "very angry" but "not surprised at all that an ICE agent has shot someone in the city," pointing to the July killing of 52-year-old Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston, who was not the target of the operation in which he died, and the shooting of a 25-year-old Colombian man by an ICE officer in Maine the same month. Rep. Greg Casar, whose district includes the site, demanded "a full, independent investigation, immediate release of the body camera footage, and accountability for any ICE officer who broke the law."

By mid-afternoon dozens of protesters had gathered at the scene, shouting at officers across the tape. Police fired pepper-ball rounds after some in the crowd threw rocks and water bottles. ICE had not released its own account of the shooting by Sunday night, and the agency did not say whether the officer involved was wearing a body camera or whether he has been placed on leave.