ICE Agent Shoots Man During Traffic Stop in Austin, Texas

A federal immigration officer shot and wounded a man in Austin, Texas, on Sunday afternoon after pulling him over in a traffic stop. The man was taken to a hospital, where doctors said he was in serious but stable condition. He had been shot once in the torso, which is the main part of the body. Austin's police chief, Lisa Davis, shared these details at a press conference with the mayor and other city leaders.

Austin's mayor, Kirk Watson, spoke strongly at the press conference. He said he wants the city's police department to help investigate the shooting so there can be 'clear, third-party eyes' on what happened. Watson does not think it would be right for ICE to look into its own shooting. He said a proper investigation will help people trust the results.

The Department of Homeland Security, which is the government agency that runs ICE, did not join the press conference. It also did not quickly respond to questions about what happened. Austin police officers were not part of the traffic stop or the shooting. Chief Davis said she did not yet know the nationality of the man who was shot.

About a hundred protesters gathered near the scene of the shooting. Some held signs and shouted, while passing cars honked in support. One man held a sign that read 'Nobody is safe.' A dark blue Toyota Corolla was parked under a highway overpass nearby, with damage to its door and what looked like bullet holes.

Democratic Congressman Greg Casar, who represents parts of Austin, called for honesty and openness as the investigation moves forward. 'It is awful that this horror has come to our doorstep,' he told reporters. He also said that ICE should stop its surge of enforcement activity in Austin to keep the city safe.

This shooting is part of a bigger picture across the country. ICE has been making more arrests than ever before this summer. In July and August, ICE arrested more than 50,000 people per month for the first time in the agency's history. City leaders and residents are watching closely to see what happens next.

This is not the first time an ICE officer has shot someone in recent months. In July, an ICE officer in Houston fatally shot a 52-year-old man named Lorenzo Salgado Araujo while he was driving his construction crew to a job site. Also in July, a 25-year-old Colombian man was shot by an ICE officer in Maine. Reports said that officer had serious mental health struggles and should never have been given a badge and gun. ICE's enforcement actions were also widely criticized last winter after two people were killed in Minnesota.