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A man was shot and injured on Sunday by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer in North Austin, leading to protests through the evening. The 28-year-old is now being held in a ICE processing center. We spoke with some of the folks who were near the scene of the shooting.
The Austin Independent School District has appealed the two failing school scores that are threatening a state takeover of the entire district. It’s the latest move attempting to keep control of the district and its schools.
The Live Music Capital of the World will be jam-packed with live performances from dusk to dawn tomorrow in celebration of HAAM Day. Where to hear the music and what goes into planning a whole day of shows across the city.
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The full transcript of this episode of Austin Signal is available on the KUT & KUTX Studio website. The transcript is also available as subtitles or captions on some podcast apps.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:08] A man was shot and injured on Sunday by an ICE officer in North Austin leading to protests through the evening. That 28-year-old is now being held in an ICE processing center. We spoke with some of the folks who were near the scene of the shooting, we’ll hear what they said and heard, and bring you the latest on the situation. That is coming up on today’s show.
KUT Announcer: Laurie Gallardo [00:00:26] The Austin Signal is a production of KUT News, hosted by Jerry Quijano.
Jerry Quijano [00:00:31] The Austin Independent School District has appealed the two failing scores that are threatening a state takeover of the entire system. It’s the latest move attempting to keep control of the district and its schools. Plus, the live music capital of the world will be jam-packed with live performances from dusk to dawn tomorrow, in celebration of Ham Day. Where to hear the music, and what goes into planning a whole day of shows across the city. We’ve got those stories and more up next. It’s right here on Austin Signal. This is Austin Signal. I’m your host Jerry Kikano. It is Monday, September 21st. Thank you for tuning in and making us part of your day. A federal immigration and customs enforcement agent shot and injured a man in North Austin on Sunday during what appears to have been a traffic stop. 28-Year-old Wilbur Rafael Garces Perez was reported to be in serious but stable condition after the shooting. SKUT’s Moe’s Bouchelle reports the incident sparked protests and as city officials demanding answers.
Mose Buchele [00:01:41] Nedavia Bolaños operates a paletaria, or popsicle shop, near the intersection of 183 and Anderson Square, where it happened. She says just before 1 p.m. On Sunday, she heard two gunshots. When she went outside, she found a man shot in the back, bleeding in his car, while a masked ICE agent stood nearby.
Nodavia Bolanos [00:02:01] Y entonces le dije yo al de Ais, ¿por qué le has hecho eso?
Mose Buchele [00:02:03] And I said to Ice, why’d you do this? This is an injustice, what you’re doing. And he didn’t say anything. He stayed quiet, she told me.
Nodavia Bolanos [00:02:11] Quedan callados.
Mose Buchele [00:02:12] She says more officers from ICE and other agencies quickly arrived, and an ambulance took the man away within about 10 minutes. He was taken to Delcetan Hospital and said to be in stable condition. Word of what happened spread as videos of the shooting and its aftermath were shared on social media. Around 4 p.m., Austin’s mayor, chief of police, and other officials were at City Hall giving a press conference.
Nodavia Bolanos [00:02:36] Austinites have a right to know what happened. Like I say, it’s their city and they have a write to feel safe in their city.
Mose Buchele [00:02:43] Austin Mayor Kirk Watson said Austin police planned to work with the Texas Rangers to investigate the shooting.
Nodavia Bolanos [00:02:50] I will say that, frankly, from my perspective, the credibility of ICE doing some form of investigation just by itself and excluding others would not be appropriate.
Mose Buchele [00:03:02] But as the mayor talked to reporters, a crowd was growing back in North Austin.
Protestors [00:03:09] Assassins! Assassins!!
Mose Buchele [00:03:13] Police, ICE, and state troopers had put up crime scene tape and gathered under the highway overpass where the shooting happened. Across the frontage road, protesters chanted, asesino, murderer, and lock him up. A lot of people seem to believe that the ICE agent that shot this man earlier today here is still in a vehicle.
Maria Ariza [00:03:33] Justice. That’s what we want, justice. If it was one of us, we would have been in handcuffs, and he’s not in handcuff. He’s still sitting there.
Mose Buchele [00:03:39] Maria Ariza was one of the hundreds who showed up to voice her outrage.
Maria Ariza [00:03:43] And we’re tired of this racial profiling. We’re tired coming after our workers. And I have a child who’s dark skinned, and I’m scared that he’s gonna be racial profiled, and he’s going to get shot.
Mose Buchele [00:03:55] As the crowd grew, some people blocked traffic trying to cross the street towards the police, while other protesters urged them not to.
Protestors [00:04:04] Get out the screen!
Mose Buchele [00:04:06] Officers responded by shooting balls of pepper spray.
Protestors [00:04:10] No, you can’t just read!
Mose Buchele [00:04:14] The crowd returned to the sidewalk, but the anger grew. Then, when some protesters started moving back into the street, DPS and then the Austin Police Department began to withdraw. Austin Police are removing the police lines here that do not cross, yellow tape that they’ve put up around the scene where this man was shot. As police exited, the crowd pressed forward, some throwing water bottles or rocks. Police fired more pepper spray. And it went on like that for another half hour or so until all officers reached their vehicles and drove away, leaving a helicopter circling above. While demonstrators remained on the scene, the man whose shooting they had come to protest was being moved again. Later Sunday evening, Garcés Bérez’s lawyer told KUT that her client had been released from the hospital and moved into ICE custody. She said neither she nor his family knew where he was being held. In Austin, I’m Mo’s Bouchel.
Jerry Quijano [00:05:37] And we do now know more about where Garces Perez is. In a social media post late last night, the Department of Homeland Security said he is a Venezuelan national in custody pending deportation. Deportation, excuse me. His attorneys have confirmed that they know he is being held at the South Texas Ice Processing Center in Pearsall, about 135 miles southwest of Austin. KUT’s Mo’s Bouchelle, who you just heard in that story, was out there yesterday and for our reporter’s notebook, He’s in the studio to give us more insight into what is happening most. Thank you for being here. Thank you, Jerry. Okay, so first of all, as we’re speaking right now, the attorneys for God Sets Betis are having a press conference. KUT’s Katie McAfee is there, and we’re gonna have more about that today on all things considered. But for right now Moe’s, what updates do you have or what new information do you for us?
Mose Buchele [00:06:22] Well, one thing that sticks out immediately having re-listened out of that story is what happened at the scene after the police first departed much later in the night. There was still a remaining group of protesters there, apparently, who had been blocking traffic and continuing to demonstrate, and police returned. And what we’ve seen now are videos of some people actually being detained or arrested by police at that scene. So they did come back, law enforcement returned back at some point much later in the evening.
Jerry Quijano [00:06:51] Yeah, and I wanted to ask more about the law enforcement that you saw out there. Which departments had a presence out there yesterday?
Mose Buchele [00:06:56] I saw ICE, DPS, and Austin Police Department, and they were, especially DPS and Austin police were kind of occupying two different parts of this area in the underpass. And ICE was the first group that I noticed had kind of left. And then as we described in the story, they all kind of took turns, Dps left and and Austin police were basically left there on their own, kind of as the final. Group of law enforcement confronting the protesters.
Jerry Quijano [00:07:29] We know now and have been talking a lot about the shooting that happened. Do we know what was the actual genesis of this entire situation?
Mose Buchele [00:07:36] It’s unclear uh… You know it appears to have been some kind of traffic stop uh… And and it’s uh… Certainly falls in line with what we’ve been seeing in austin lately we’ve seen seemingly increasing ice activity and uh… Activity that seems a little more a lot of times i said that has been working with the p s to kind of pull people over check their their their papers and and kind of deported in that way This, from what the witnesses told me, this was an ICE agent who… Was who made the stop, you know, and we seem to be seeing a little bit more just kind of ICE agents acting independently of any other agency. Of course, then after that, a lot of other officers from different agencies arrive.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:16] And a lot of protesters as well from all parts of the city. What time did you get out on the scene yesterday?
Mose Buchele [00:08:21] Oh, geez, it was probably around three. OK. Yeah. Yeah, how many people?
Jerry Quijano [00:08:26] And how many people would you estimate were out there at that time?
Mose Buchele [00:08:28] At that time, you know, it was difficult to tell because it was kind of a long line of people all lined up along this block. But you know between 50 to 100 then and then you had people kind of coming in and out. But certainly the crowd growing through the day and you know you could just see it happening and understand that people are hearing the word, what had happened. They wanted to do something, they wanted to voice their anger. And so you just see people kind walking down towards this spot through the and into the evening.
Jerry Quijano [00:08:57] Who else did you get a chance to speak with when you heard some of the voices that you brought to us in that story, but who are some of those folks that you spoke with while you were out there?
Mose Buchele [00:09:03] Uh… My spoke with some other pro protesters i also spoke with one man who did not want to share his name he said he just didn’t want to be involved in this kind of heavy controversy but um… But he uh… He said you was over the first person faxed it to be on the scene and to speak with uh… Got says parents as well and i think we have some tape from that conversation
Witness [00:09:23] I worked there, I heard the bullets and I came and I looked at the boy who was shot and I also looked at him from the immigration office and I asked the immigration officer if he had called the ambulance. He said it was all he told me, yes, it was everything he told me and the boy asked him if he was okay but the boy looked tired and they hit me on the back. It was all that he told and I told him that if he is… Why did they stop him? Why did you beat him up? Why didn’t you stop me? That’s what he told me. From that point on, I didn’t talk much because I was scared and worried. That’s all I could ask the boy.
Jerry Quijano [00:10:14] It sounds like he spoke he said he reached out to the immigration officer to ask if somebody was if assistance was coming They just said yes That was all and then he got a chance to speak to god says bet is what else did he say in that clip?
Mose Buchele [00:10:23] Yeah, so he said that he asked what happened and Garces Perez said he had been shot in the back, and he asked why, and according to him, Garces Peres said he didn’t want to stop. That would lead us to think maybe it was some type of a traffic situation. And another interesting point here, and this is the same as what I heard from another witness, is he identified the agent as being an ICE. Officer. It sounds as though it was just an ICE agent there at this initial moment right after the shooting. And then you start seeing the other, the DPS, the APD, the other agencies coming in along with other ICE agents. And both witnesses also told me that police presence increased very quickly even before the ambulance came. There were just a lot more law enforcement around very quickly after this.
Jerry Quijano [00:11:16] Okay, that is Mo’s Bouchel. He was out reporting the story yesterday along with our multimedia team, Lori-Ann Willett and Patricia Lim as well. I believe you can find more of Mo’s reporting in today’s show notes and find a video from the scene yesterday on KUT social media. Thank you, Mo’s. Thank you Jerry. And again, a reminder that the attorneys for Wilbur Rafael Garcías Perez are having a press conference right now. KUT’s Katie McAfee is there. We’re going to have updates later on all things considered right here on Kut News. The Austin Independent School District is attempting to avoid a state takeover after two middle schools received their fifth failing academic accountability rating this year. The district is appealing the failing grades given to Burnett and Webb Middle Schools by the Texas Education Agency. Meanwhile, some parents in the district are petitioning the state to close those failing schools rather than take over the entire district. Here with more is Acacia Coronado. She is the education reporter for Austin Current. They are our partners in reporting on the city of Austin here at KUT News. Akasia, thanks for being back on the show.
Acacia Coronado [00:12:19] Thanks for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:12:20] So tell us a little bit about how this appeals process works and what specifically AISD is challenging.
Acacia Coronado [00:12:26] Yeah. So every district in the state of Texas, including Austin, is able to appeal the data behind the ratings. So they have to have a purpose. They have to have a reason why they think that a rating might be off. And ratings are based off of standardized testing, college readiness, career readiness, those kinds of factors. And so a district can appeal the rating of a school based on the data that was used to permanent. And right now, Austin ISD, we don’t know how many appeals they submitted, but we do know that they submitted an appeal for Burnett and Webb Middle Schools, which both received a fifth failing accountability rating. And so if those ratings were confirmed, they could trigger the state intervention law. And so right now the district is appealing those fifth failing ratings. Uh, Burnett received a 59, I believe, and Webb a 58. So they were both like one and two points respectively, away from a D rating.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:27] Okay, so 60 is the cutoff for the D rating. Okay, and so how realistic is it that an appeal might move either school from that F to a D?
Acacia Coronado [00:13:37] So that is completely up to the Texas Education Agency, and they have a formula for how they calculate a rating. And so if something is off in one of those factors, they can recalculate the formula, but it really will be up to the agency to review that and to let them know it’s a case-by-case basis.
Jerry Quijano [00:13:59] Okay, so that’s with the Texas Education Agency. Meanwhile, Mayor Kirk Watson has called on AISD parents to form a parent petition asking the state to close those failing campuses rather than take over the entire district. From your reporting, how has that been received and would that course of action actually work to avoid a takeover?
Acacia Coronado [00:14:18] It’s definitely been received with mixed emotions from what I’ve heard of parents in Burnett and Webb Middle Schools. It definitely, I think, triggers a lot of concern from parents to have to vote to close their own schools. And I think a lot of them are asking what are their students going to have as options for their education if they do make that decision. I haven’t heard any parents outright say they will do it. I’ve heard a few say they won’t, and I’ve heard a lot of you say they’re weighing their options because they also are concerned about what state intervention could mean, either closing their schools through the state or taking over the entire district. So there’s definitely a lot mixed emotions. And whether it actually could work is really a question because the state law does that. The commissioner can layer interventions, and so we really don’t know what it would mean if a petition, if he were to side with parents who signed a petition. We really don’t know what other interventions or sanctions he could place on the district as well.
Jerry Quijano [00:15:31] We are a month into the school year, we’re almost at the end of September at this point. Can you remind us of the timeline and decision making process for TEA to rule on this appeal?
Acacia Coronado [00:15:40] So the agency has 90 days. Within that 90 day period, they will notify the district about their decision and then the finalized rating should come out in December.
Jerry Quijano [00:15:51] That’s 90 days from the date when the appeal was submitted.
Acacia Coronado [00:15:54] Right. So the agency is 90 days from the last day to submit appeals, which was September 11th. So after September 11, they have a 90 day window to notify the district of their decision on that appeal. And then in December, the ratings will be finalized.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:13] And while we’re waiting on that finalization of those ratings, what are you watching for next that Austin ISD families and even just the broader community here in Austin can pay attention to?
Acacia Coronado [00:16:23] I think we’re really going to have to look at how parents at Burnett and Webb middle schools are feeling about this parent petition proposal, whether they actually initiate one and whether they feel comfortable signing it, and the many factors that could really play into that situation. And then we’re going to be seeing how these schools are doing from here until December, what progress they’re showing and what the district does next in their upcoming board meetings.
Jerry Quijano [00:16:53] All right, we have been speaking with Acacia Coronado. She’s the education reporter for Austin Current, our reporting partners here at KUT News and Austin Signal. We’re gonna have a link to her story in today’s show. No, it’s Acacia. Thank you.
Acacia Coronado [00:17:04] Thank you so much for having me.
Jerry Quijano [00:17:05] And one more thing for you, Vicki Goodwin, the Democratic candidate for Texas Lieutenant Governor says her opponent broke the law by using AI-generated campaign ads. Goodwin who represents House District 47 in Travis County filed a report with the sheriff’s office Saturday saying incumbent Dan Patrick, a Republican, posted ads on his personal social media accounts that included deep fake images of her and misrepresented her views. KUT has reached out to both campaigns. We’ll have an update at KUT.org when we get it. This is Austin Signal. This is Austin Signal, welcome back. Hundreds of performers will take the stage tomorrow in a variety of venues all across the city. It’s all part of an annual event in support of healthcare for Austin’s musicians and creatives. Ham Day Music Festival 2026 runs all day, starting bright and early, and it’s all free to attend. Here to tell us more is Paul Scott, CEO of Ham. Paul, thank you for being here.
Paul Scott [00:18:01] Great to be here, thank you.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:02] So tell us a little bit about HAM, it’s H-A-A M. What does that stand for?
Paul Scott [00:18:07] Yeah, so HAM stands for Health Alliance for Austin Musicians, and we provide access to affordable health, wellness, and prevention services to musicians in the greater Austin area to make sure we improve their quality of life and to make sure we maintain a vibrant music culture.
Jerry Quijano [00:18:22] Okay, so tell us a little bit specifically about Ham Day. This has been going on for a few years now. How does this day of free music help to benefit the musicians here in Austin?
Paul Scott [00:18:31] Yeah, so we’ve kind of actually repositioned this last year and even more so this year is the Ham Day Music Festival. It’s the world’s largest local music festival of its kind. And so this event really celebrates live music throughout the community. And we have over 700 musicians this year performing across 238 venues. It is 10 days worth of music, all within a 24-hour period to help raise support for musicians, music teachers, and DJs in our community.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:02] That is a lot of music packed into one day. How much work goes into putting on an event like that?
Paul Scott [00:19:08] I don’t know if I can really describe how much work actually goes into this, it’s kind of a year-long process, but we have a team in place that works on our signature events, one of which is the Ham Day Music Festival. And so we also rely upon our volunteers, we call them HamBassitors, and they actually help augment the day by being present at all of these different venues to help make sure people understand what Ham is and to help raise support for our musicians.
Jerry Quijano [00:19:33] Speaking of those different venues are there any particular note something new this year that stands out to you?
Paul Scott [00:19:39] Well, I think the key thing just to let everybody know is, you know, go and download on our site, myham.org. We actually have a brand new app this year that you can download. It’s web-based and you can go and select and curate your music where you wanna hear music in your area geographically. If you want to go to a restaurant that’s also supporting Ham on that day or a shop, it’s a great way for you to kind of really kind of curate you day and see where you can hear music. Playing at traditional venues, but also at many non-traditional venues as well.
Jerry Quijano [00:20:09] Yeah, what are some of those non-traditional venues?
Paul Scott [00:20:11] So we’ve got anywhere from book people to PNC Bank to on the sidewalk outside of restaurants. So pretty much you’re going to be, if you’re gonna be walking anywhere around South Congress, you’re to be able to kind of run into live music and that’s going to part of our
Jerry Quijano [00:20:32] I think that’s one of the best parts of Ham Day is that you can go to this random place and just happen to run into music, but since you’re so involved in planning and getting everything together, how many different spots do you try to make it to in one calendar ham day.
Paul Scott [00:20:48] Yeah, so I kick off my day, our headquarters is going to be at the H-E-B South Congress in Old Torf. And so we kick off at 6 a.m., so it’s a bright and early morning. And so usually I’m there in the morning and then starting in the late of the morning, this year we’re featuring the Women in Music group that are going to at the south steps of the capital. And so, we have Mama Duke and Parker Wilden are going be performing there. So I go there, and then I go over to Schultz Garden and lunch with the staff, and we enjoy live music there. And then I spread out across the city the rest of the evening, starting at 5 p.m. To Guerrero’s, to Radio East, to Central Machine Works, to East End Ballroom, to Stubbs, to Anton’s. I’m pretty much going to be hitting like 10 or 12 places in a very quick fashion.
Jerry Quijano [00:21:40] Recently, the Red River Cultural District put out a plea for support of the district in support of stages and venues here in Austin. What is it, for you at least, that makes these Austin venues, whether it’s like a big stage at Stubbs or it’s the stage at the HUB on South Congress, what about music makes Austin special to you?
Paul Scott [00:22:01] Well, I think first of all, with the Red River Cultural District, we’re putting forth our letter of support for what they’re trying to do as well, because we know that our musicians not only they need to stay here and be healthy, and that’s what HAM does, is make sure they can be here and afford to live here. By helping them access health care and other prevention and wellness services. And so we want them to be here and create and play. And we need a healthy venue system as well economically. And so, we need the city to step up and continue to support the Red River Cultural District. And so for me, music means, you know, it’s the one thing when you think about it in this day and time that brings us together. We can all be in a room together listening to our favorite artists doesn’t matter where we’re from, who we are, who love, who we vote for. We’re just enjoying music. And so I think that’s why music is so critically important, not only to Austin as its culture, but just to who we are as human beings.
Jerry Quijano [00:22:58] Okay, one last reminder, how can folks make the most of their ham day?
Paul Scott [00:23:03] So first of all, go to myham.org and go click on the Ham Day link there and you can download kind of the web-based app, save it to your home screen and you just curate where you want to go for the day, where you want to eat, where want to shop and know that you’re supporting local musicians with access to health, wellness, prevention services. We support over 3,300 musicians through our program and so we need the support of the community to make sure our musicians can continue to live and play here and just keep us a live music capital of the world. Alright, we have been speaking with Paul
Jerry Quijano [00:23:33] Scott, he is the CEO at Ham. We’re going to have a link to more about Ham Day in today’s show notes. Paul, thank you for your time. Thank you so much. And thank you out there for making us part of your Monday. That’s it for us today on Austin Signal. We have more at kut.org slash signal and in our podcast show notes, the Austin Signal team is Rene Chavez, Alexandra Hart, Kristen Cabrera, Jimmy Moss, and I’m your host, Jerry Kijano. We’ll be back with you same time tomorrow.
This transcript was transcribed by AI, and lightly edited by a human. Accuracy may vary. This text may be revised in the future.
