Police in July 2023 were trying to arrest Adrian San Martin, wanted on multiple warrants, when he evaded authorities. Officer Joseph Warren eventually shot him.
SAN ANTONIO — The mother of a Bexar County man shot dead by a police officer through his patrol unit’s windshield in July 2023 has filed a wrongful death lawsuit again the officer, claiming excessive deadly force was used on her son.
The lawsuit filed Tuesday by attorneys representing Raquel San Martin claims her son, Adrian San Martin, “did not present a threat justifying the use of deadly force” when he was running away from police on that day in 2023, gun in hand.
Even though San Martin was holding the firearm, the lawsuit claims, he didn’t point it at anyone, nor did he use the gun.
He “did not even hold the gun in a manner that would be consistent with firing the gun, as he was holding the handle only,” the suit says.
The lawsuit seeks punitive damages through a jury trial.
Adrian San Martin was wanted for outstanding felony warrants – including family violence and evading arrest – when police acted on a tip that he was at a northeast-side hotel on July 16, 2023. Officials with the San Antonio Police Department at the time said personnel surveilled him for several hours before a detective approached to try and make an arrest, at which point San Martin fled on foot.
Body camera footage of the pursuit showed an officer yelling “He’s got a gun, he’s got a gun!” before giving chase. The man identified as San Martin is seen running into a field before two officers pull up in a car; police said it was the driver, identified as Joseph Warren, who visibly fires the fatal shots.
San Martin died after being taken to a local hospital, having been shot in the head, authorities said. He was 30 years old.
This isn’t the first time the incident has been criticized by San Martin’s loved ones. In August 2023, Xalli Stefanic – who said San Martin was like a brother to her – said the response “could have been handled so much different.”
“He did have a gun,” said Stefanic. “From what I saw, it was facing down the entire time. I did not see him lift it up once.”
Adrian Iruegas told KENS 5 it looked like his friend was running for his life.
“I cried so hard watching (the body camera video),” said Iruegas. “I have no words. I understand officers were doing their job, but he wasn’t a threat.”
The lawsuit, which incorporates stills from the body camera footage shared by SAPD, argues that San Martin never pointed his gun at an officer. The complaint supplements its case by repeatedly noting that the other responding officers chasing San Martin on foot didn’t fire, citing that as evidence in its argument that his actions didn’t rise to the level of warranting deadly force and that most of the police on scene knew that.
Body camera footage, the lawsuit claims, contradict Warren’s claims after the incident that San Martin pointed a gun at him.
“Defendant Warren simply fabricated that Adrian pointed the gun at him to justify his unlawful use of excessive deadly force,” the complaint says.