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By Dan Gooding and Billal Rahman
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Federal agents shot and killed a U.S. citizen in Texas last year, but initial reports did not reveal their involvement, with the details now coming to light through internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) records.
Ruben Ray Martinez, 23, was shot by an ICE Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) officer in South Padre Island, Texas, on March 15, 2025, after what ICE described as a failure to follow law enforcement instructions during a traffic incident as agents worked with local police on immigration enforcement.
While Martinez’s death was reported in local media at the time, the reports did not identify HSI involvement or disclose that a federal agent fired the shots through the driver-side window.
Read More on U.S.
Newsweek is reporting new details based on internal incident reports obtained by the watchdog American Oversight through a Freedom of Information Act request and reviewed by Newsweek, as well as publicly available information.
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What Happened on South Padre Island?
On the morning of March 15, 2025, HSI Harlingen BEST Maritime Group was assisting the South Padre Island Police Department (SPIPD) with traffic control at the site of a major vehicle accident involving multiple injuries. According to ICE’s internal report, HSI agents were helping redirect traffic when a blue four-door Ford approached the controlled area.
“As the vehicle got closer to the special agents the driver failed to follow instructions and attempted to continue onto [redacted],” the report read. “Multiple officers gave verbal commands to the occupants to stop, the driver of the vehicle slowed to a stop, and at this point agents surrounded the vehicle and verbally commanded the driver to exit the vehicle.
“The driver accelerated forward, striking a HSI special agent who wound up on the hood of the vehicle. Upon observing this, HSI group supervisory special agent utilized his government-issued service weapon, discharging multiple rounds at the driver through the open driver’s side window.”
The report went on to say that the special agent involved was taken to a nearby hospital, treated for a knee injury and released.
The account reflects ICE’s internal description of events and has not been independently corroborated.
While Martinez and his passengers were not named in the report, it describes the deceased as “identified as [redacted] of San Antonio, Texas." Newsweek identified Martinez as the deceased individual based on local reporting from the time of the incident. Newsweek contacted the man’s family for comment on Wednesday.
KRGV in Weslaco reported that the shooting happened at about 12:40 a.m. near the intersection of Padre Boulevard and Marlin Street. The Texas Department of Public Safety did not specify when Martinez died or which law enforcement agency was involved in the shooting, and details about what led to the incident have not been publicly released by state authorities at the time of reporting.
South Padre Island City Manager Randy Smith previously said that SPIPD officers were not the ones who fired their weapons, according to KRGV.
Martinez was transported by emergency medical personnel to Valley Regional Medical Center in Brownsville, where he was later pronounced dead, according to the incident reports. A passenger was taken into custody by SPIPD pending charges.
Both people were identified as U.S. citizens in the internal ICE report.
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No property damage was reported. The internal account also says that notifications were made to the ICE Joint Intelligence Operations Center, the Office of Professional Responsibility and ICE Domestic Operations.
The Texas Rangers were investigating the deadly encounter at the time, according to the internal ICE report. It also listed the Texas Department of Public Safety Ranger Division, the SPIPD, and Texas Parks and Wildlife as the external agencies involved in the incident.
Newsweek contacted all the agencies involved in the incident via email for comment.
On Friday, the Department of Homeland Security confirmed the story in an email to Newsweek.
"A driver of a blue Ford intentionally ran over a Homeland Security Investigation special agent resulting in him being on the hood of the vehicle. Upon witnessing this, another agent fired defensive shots to protect himself, his fellow agents, and the general public," a spokesperson for the agency said.
"The driver was taken to a local hospital, where he was pronounced deceased. The agent who was ran over sustained a knee injury and was taken to the hospital."
DHS said the incident remains under investigation by the Texas Department of Public Safety’s Ranger Division and directed any additional questions to that agency.
Sheridan Nolen, press secretary at the Texas Department of Public Safety, told Newsweek, "This is still an active investigation by the Texas Rangers, and no other information is currently available." The FBI’s San Antonio field office is not involved in the investigation, Special Agent Carmen Portillo told Newsweek.
A spokesperson for the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department told Newsweek: "At the time this incident occurred, game wardens were supporting the South Padre Island Police Department (SPID) with traffic control due to the initial vehicle incident.
"As Texas Game Wardens are not the lead agency for the vehicle incident or the investigating agency for the officer-involved shooting, we are unable to provide further details."
SPID told Newsweek on Thursday that its officers were working the incident on March 15, 2025, but said the officer-involved shooting was referred to the Texas Rangers, so it could not comment further.
Newsweek has filed public‑records requests seeking incident reports, investigative findings and any video related to the shooting.
In an obituary posted online in 2025, Martinez’s family said they were “deeply saddened and shocked by his sudden death.”
The family described Martinez as “humble, kind, and adventurous,” according to the obituary.
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Recent Fatal Encounters Involving Federal Immigration Officers
The new details about the shooting come amid heightened scrutiny of ICE use‑of‑force incidents following two fatal encounters involving immigration agents in Minneapolis last month.
On January 7, Renée Nicole Good, a 37-year-old writer and mother of three, was fatally shot by an ICE agent during an immigration operation in Minneapolis.
Video analyses and medical examiner findings showed that the agent fired multiple shots as Good attempted to move her vehicle in a group of ICE officers, resulting in her death.
The DHS said that the agent was struck by the vehicle and that he feared for his life, leading to him firing his weapon.
On January 24, Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old U.S. citizen and intensive care nurse, was shot and killed by federal immigration agents in Minneapolis during the same enforcement deployment.
Witness accounts and publicly circulated video indicated Pretti was recording agents and attempting to assist others before he was killed.
The deaths of Good and Pretti sparked a national outcry, protests in multiple cities, and calls from Democrats and Republicans for an independent investigation into the incidents.
Update 2/19/26, 3:02 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
Update 2/19/26, 8:05 a.m. ET: This article's headline was updated.
Update 2/19/26, 12:25 p.m. ET: This article was updated with additional information from the South Pedro Island Police Department.
Update 2/20/26, 5:44 a.m. ET: This article and its headline were updated with additional information.
Update 2/20/26, 5:23 p.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from the Department of Homeland Security.
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