Sept 22 (Reuters) – The Venezuelan man who spent Sunday night in an ICE detention center with a bullet lodged in his back after being shot by a federal immigration agent in Austin, Texas, has been taken back to a hospital, according to public statements from his lawyer on Monday night.
“I have finally received notice that Wilber was taken back to another hospital to receive treatment regarding paralysis in his left side,” wrote Kate Lincoln-Goldfinch, the attorney for Wilber Rafael Garces Perez, on her social media accounts.
Lincoln-Goldfinch added that she would visit him first thing on Tuesday morning.
During a news conference on Monday, Lincoln-Goldfinch introduced a man who phoned in as Perez, who said he had been transferred to an ICE processing facility about 130 miles southwest of Austin on Sunday after a few hours in the hospital following the shooting.
On the Monday call, Perez, 28, said that he was still bleeding and was not receiving adequate medical care.
“I’m not doing well because of the gunshot I received,” he said in Spanish, adding that he had to sleep on the floor at the detention center.
He said he had been out working as a DoorDash food delivery driver on Sunday when his car was sideswiped by the agents, who he said did not identify themselves or turn on any sort of lights or siren.
Perez said that an agent shot him while he was still in his car and that there had been no foot chase. Austin police said on Sunday that he had run from agents.
The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment on Monday or Tuesday. DHS on Sunday released a written statement saying that Perez was in the US illegally and that he had a final order of removal from the country. They did not provide details on the circumstances of the shooting.
(Reporting by Julia Harte; editing by Donna Bryson and Franklin Paul)
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