Ruben Ray Martinez, of San Antonio, was fatally shot by a federal immigration agent at South Padre Island in March 2025, records show.
SAN ANTONIO — San Antonio Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones has joined Democratic Texas leaders in pushing for answers surrounding the death of a local 23-year-old man killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent nearly a year ago.
But Jones said she specifically wants Congress to investigate the Department of Homeland Security and the role it played in Ruben Ray Martinez’s death, saying “it’s unclear any department-led investigations would be fairly executed, as evident by the delay in getting answers to this point.”
Martinez was shot multiple times on March 15, 2025, at South Padre Island when a federal immigration agent opened fire on the driver of a Ford vehicle that struck a fellow agent, according to an ICE incident report. The San Antonio man, identified in ICE records as a U.S. citizen, died after being taken to a Brownsville hospital.
The Texas Rangers led the investigation into the incident and confirmed Martinez’s identity last March to the local news station KRGV. Newsweek was the first to report this week that federal immigration authorities played a role in his killing after obtaining internal ICE records.
That incident report states Homeland Security Investigations personnel were assisting South Padre Island police with traffic control after a major crash when the vehicle allegedly driven by Martinez approached the area and stopped only when given verbal commands. The driver then “accelerated forward, striking a HSI (Homeland Security Investigations) special agent who wound up on the hood of the vehicle.”
Another agent shot multiple times at the driver through the driver’s side window of the car, hitting Martinez.
“Mr. Martinez’s family and friends deserve answers and transparency around his death,” Jones said on Saturday. “Regardless of where our residents go, everyone deserves to be safe, and they deserve timely answers when a loved one has been killed. The delay in providing answers to the Martinez family and to the community only makes our neighbors wonder: ‘How many more Ruben Ray Martinez’ (sic) are out there, and how many more could there be?'”
An ICE spokesperson confirmed the incident on Friday, saying the federal agent who opened fire at the vehicle did so “to protect himself, his fellow agents and the general public.” On Friday, the Texas Rangers said it wouldn’t provide information about the case, saying that probe was still active.
‘He wasn’t a violent person’
Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, said her son was just days past his 23rd birthday when he and his best friend drove from San Antonio down to the beach for the weekend to celebrate. South Padre Island, located on the Gulf Coast just north of the U.S.-Mexico border, is a renowned spring break destination that attracts tens of thousands of college-aged partiers each March.
Martinez worked at an Amazon warehouse, liked to play video games and hang out with friends. His mother said he had never had any prior run-ins with law enforcement.
“He was a typical young guy,” Reyes told The Associated Press. “He never really got a chance to go out and experience things. It was his first time getting to go out of town. He was a nice guy, humble guy. And he wasn’t a violent person at all.”
News of ICE’s involvement in the incident, months before personnel with the agency killed Renee Good and Alex Pretti during the Minneapolis immigration crackdown, has sparked a fresh wave of scrutiny.
San Antonio Congressman Joaquin Castro on Friday accused ICE and the Texas Department of Public Safety of “an organized cover-up of the shooting” while speaking with news media on Friday. He also called for a federal investigation into this shooting and said his office was reaching out to Martinez’s family.
This is a developing story.
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