Gov. Greg Abbott spoke out Wednesday. He talked about an ICE shooting. ICE agents shot a Houston-area man. They killed him. "Any loss of life is tragic," Abbott said. ICE shot the man on July 7. Agents later said he was not their target that day.

Abbott did not speak for 8 days after the shooting. Other top Texas Republicans also stayed quiet. This week, three big GOP leaders spoke up. They spoke one after another. They back ICE. But they also face hard questions. The questions are about deadly force.

Abbott said Wednesday that state troopers will help. Texas DPS and the Texas Rangers will join the probe. They will work with federal agents. They want to learn what happened. Democrats and civil rights leaders in Houston had asked for this for days.

"In Texas and across America, we don't want to see people shot. Period," Abbott said. "That's separate from whether or not the immigration laws are going to be enforced. I fully expect our immigration laws to be enforced, but it's proven that immigration laws can be enforced and stopping illegal immigration from coming across our border can be achieved without shooting people."

ICE says its officer shot in self-defense. ICE says the man tried to ram his van into an ICE truck. ICE says the man did not follow orders. ICE says he then "weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over" an agent.

But riders in the van tell it differently. They gave written statements. They said no agents stood behind or in front of the van. They said the van could not have hit anyone.

Sen. John Cornyn spoke up too this week. He said it "sounds like a mistake" that agents wore no cameras. He said DHS should work harder to add more cameras. He said this "would be wise."

"I think they should be investigating. But it's not unheard of that people will use their vehicle as a weapon. And the ICE agents are entitled to defend themselves," Cornyn said Tuesday.

Ken Paxton is the state's attorney general. He spoke about the case Tuesday night. He talked to reporters after a rally in McAllen. Paxton is running for Cornyn's Senate seat. He beat Cornyn in the primary. Paxton called the case "always complicated." He said agents must decide fast.

"These guys have a hard job," Paxton said. "All I know is that we need to stand behind our law enforcement. That doesn't mean that they can't do no wrong. We always need to verify. But these guys have a hard job and they make tough decisions."

This is not the first ICE shooting to make news this year. In late January, ICE agents shot U.S. citizens in Minneapolis. A video of one shooting spread fast online. Some Texas Republicans spoke up fast that time. Abbott was one of them. He said the government should "recalibrate" its deportation plan.

Since the Houston shooting, ICE shot and killed a man in Maine too. That death has stirred more anger. People across the U.S. are asking how ICE uses force.

Abbott's own past words are back in the news. In a 2024 radio talk, Abbott spoke about the border crackdown. That was under President Biden. He said, "the only thing that we're not doing is we're not shooting people who come across the border, because of course, the Biden administration would charge us with murder." That same year, Texas Guard troops fired pepper balls at migrants. The balls hit people crossing the Rio Grande. Pepper balls are not meant to kill. They spray a chemical. It stings. It irritates skin and eyes.

Texas DPS and the Texas Rangers have said they will probe the shooting alongside federal authorities. It is not yet clear when that investigation will conclude or what it will find. Questions remain about why agents wore no cameras and why the stop turned deadly.