US Citizen Fatally Shot by Federal Immigration Agent in Texas, New Records Disclose
Recently disclosed records have revealed that a United States citizen was shot and killed in Texas by a federal immigration agent last year during a late-night traffic encounter. The Department of Homeland Security did not publicly disclose this incident, which occurred on South Padre Island in March 2025.
Details of the Shooting Incident
The death of Ruben Ray Martinez, aged 23, represents the earliest of at least six deadly shootings by federal officers since the commencement of a nationwide immigration crackdown during Donald Trump's second term. According to a statement released on Friday, DHS asserted that the shooting took place after the driver intentionally struck an agent.
This shooting involved a Homeland Security Investigations team that was conducting an immigration enforcement operation in collaboration with local police. The information comes from documents obtained by American Oversight, a non-profit watchdog organization based in Washington.
These records form part of a batch of heavily redacted internal documents from Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which the non-profit acquired through a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit.
Lack of Public Disclosure and Official Accounts
Although Martinez's death on March 15, 2025, was reported by local media outlets at the time, federal and state authorities did not reveal that the shooting involved the HSI team. In its Friday statement, DHS claimed the driver who was killed "intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent," leading another agent to fire "defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public."
The department has not responded to inquiries regarding why it issued no media release or other public notification about this officer-involved shooting over the past eleven months.
Family Perspective and Contradictory Evidence
Martinez's mother, Rachel Reyes, stated that her son was just days past his 23rd birthday when he and his best friend drove from San Antonio to the beach for a weekend celebration. South Padre Island, situated on the Gulf coast just north of the US-Mexico border, is a famous spring break destination that draws tens of thousands of college-aged partiers each March.
According to an internal two-page ICE incident report included in the newly disclosed documents, shortly after midnight, HSI officers were assisting South Padre Island police by redirecting traffic through a busy intersection following a vehicle accident with several injuries.
A blue, four-door Ford with a driver and passenger approached the officers, who ordered the driver to stop. The report does not specify why. Initially, the driver did not respond to commands but eventually came to a stop.
Agents then surrounded the vehicle, instructing those inside to exit, but the driver "accelerated forward" and struck an HSI special agent "who wound up on the hood of the vehicle." An HSI supervisory special agent standing by the side of the car then fired his weapon multiple times through the open driver's-side window, causing the vehicle to stop.
Paramedics already on the scene of the accident quickly provided medical aid, and the driver was transported by ambulance to a regional hospital in Brownsville, where he was pronounced dead. The passenger, also a US citizen, was taken into custody.
The HSI officer reportedly struck by the vehicle received treatment for an unspecified knee injury at a nearby hospital and was released. The names of the two HSI agents involved in the shooting and the two men in the car were all redacted from the ICE report, but Reyes confirmed the driver was her son, stating he was shot three times.
Investigation and Potential Discrepancies
Reyes said she first learned her son had been shot by a federal agent, rather than a local police officer, about a week after his death. She was contacted by an investigator from the Texas Rangers, the lead agency examining the shooting. Reyes mentioned the investigator told her there were videos of the shooting that contradicted the account provided by federal agents. DHS did not immediately respond to an email on Friday about the claim that video evidence shows a different version of events.
She was informed by the investigator that the state report into the shooting was completed in October and that the case would be presented to a grand jury for potential criminal charges. The Texas Department of Public Safety, which includes the Rangers, stated in a Friday announcement that the investigation into the shooting remains "active" and declined to provide further information.
