A U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and seriously wounded a Venezuelan delivery driver in Austin, Texas, over the weekend, in an incident that has triggered a multi-agency investigation and renewed criticism of how federal immigration agents operate in American cities.

Wilber Rafael Garcés Pérez, 28, was working a DoorDash delivery shift on Sunday when he was shot, according to reporting from the Texas Tribune, which spoke with his attorney. Federal law enforcement sources told CBS News that ICE agents had been trying to apprehend Garcés Pérez, who officials say is living in the U.S. without legal status and has an outstanding deportation order.

"Facing paralysis"

Garcés Pérez's lawyer said the shooting may have followed a foot pursuit and that her client attempted to pull over before agents opened fire. He was shot in the torso and, according to his attorney, has lost movement on the entire left side of his body, leaving him facing possible permanent paralysis.

"IN SERIOUS BUT STABLE CONDITION"

He was treated at Dell Seton Medical Center at the University of Texas and has since been released into what is believed to be ICE custody, according to CBS News. The Department of Homeland Security has not said whether the agent involved was wearing a body camera or confirmed additional details about how the confrontation unfolded.

Austin police, the Texas Rangers and Homeland Security Investigations are jointly investigating the shooting — a standard process for officer-involved shootings in the city, though this one has drawn unusual scrutiny given the federal agency involved and the fact that the man shot was, by all accounts, working a delivery job at the time.

Part of a wider pattern

The shooting lands amid a broader stretch of scrutiny over ICE's tactics nationally, as the agency has ramped up arrests in cities across the country under the administration's expanded enforcement priorities. Civil rights attorneys and local officials have repeatedly raised concerns about use-of-force incidents during immigration arrests carried out in public places, including near workplaces and residential neighborhoods, though there is no comprehensive public dataset tracking such incidents nationally.

Neither ICE nor DHS has released a detailed public timeline of the encounter, and the agency has not said whether Garcés Pérez will still face deportation proceedings once his medical treatment concludes. His attorney says the family is seeking a full, independent accounting of what happened before he was shot.