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ICE agent fatally shot U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez at a South Padre Island traffic stop; federal role concealed for nearly a year

On March 15, 2025, ICE agent Jack C. Stevens fatally shot Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen, during a traffic stop near an accident scene on South Padre Island, Texas. Agents said Martinez accelerated his vehicle toward an officer, but the sole eyewitness said the car was stopping and Martinez "never hit the gas" when the shots were fired, and no agent present wore a body camera. Authorities described the killing only as an "officer-involved shooting" and concealed for nearly a year that a federal immigration officer fired the fatal shots, a fact that emerged in 2026 through a public-records lawsuit rather than government disclosure.

Jurisdiction
Federal
Location
South Padre Island, Texas

Abuses documented

Actors

On March 15, 2025, Ruben Ray Martinez, a 23-year-old U.S. citizen from San Antonio, was fatally shot by Jack C. Stevens, an agent with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, during a traffic stop near an accident scene on South Padre Island, Texas. Agents said Martinez accelerated his vehicle toward an officer and posed a vehicle-as-weapon threat. The sole eyewitness, Josh Orta, said Martinez "never hit the gas" and that the car was in the process of stopping when the shots were fired. No federal officer present was wearing a body camera.

Authorities publicly described the killing only as an "officer-involved shooting" and did not disclose that a federal immigration officer had fired the fatal shots. That federal role remained concealed for nearly a year, emerging in 2026 only through a public-records lawsuit brought by the watchdog group American Oversight rather than through government disclosure. A Cameron County grand jury declined to indict in connection with the shooting.

The killing was documented through subsequently released records and footage and detailed in 2026 investigative reporting. The lone eyewitness, Josh Orta, died in an alcohol-involved crash in February 2026, hours after learning of the ICE involvement in the shooting he had witnessed.

Why we recorded this

When an armed agent of the state kills a citizen, public accountability depends on the government promptly and truthfully disclosing what happened and who was responsible. Here a federal immigration officer fatally shot a U.S. citizen during a traffic stop, the sole eyewitness contradicted the agents' account that the victim's car posed a threat, no officer present wore a body camera, and the government concealed for nearly a year that a federal officer had fired the fatal shots — a fact that surfaced only through a public-records lawsuit rather than official disclosure. This archive records both the killing and the extended concealment of federal responsibility, which together foreclosed the timely scrutiny that accountable use of state force requires.

Sources

  1. An unreported ICE killing of an American shattered 2 Texas families — The Texas Tribune investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  2. How the unreported killing of an American by ICE shattered two Texas families — Texas Public Radio investigative accessed July 14, 2026
  3. Footage, new records show what led to ICE shooting of San Antonio man on South Padre Island last year — KSAT investigative accessed July 14, 2026

See also