Una mujer pasa junto a flores, velas y mensajes colocados en el memorial de Lorenzo Salgado Araujo —quien murió tras recibir disparos de agentes del Servicio de Inmigración y Control de Aduanas la semana pasada— en la cuadra 4800 de la calle Canal, en el East End de Houston, el lunes 13 de julio de 2026.
Jacob Lujan/Houston Chronicle
The Texas Rangers have denied a request by Houston-area Democrats to investigate the deadly shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo last week by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.
More than a dozen Democratic members of Houston’s delegation to the state Legislature sent a letter to the Texas Department of Public Safety the day after Salgado was killed asking the rangers to look into the actions that led to his death.
FEDERAL INVESTIGATION: How will the feds investigate the ICE shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo — and can they be trusted?
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On Monday, DPS Director Colonel Freeman Martin declined the lawmakers’ request, saying the agency could only conduct an investigation at the behest of federal or local law enforcement.
“DPS has not received a request from any federal agency or official to investigate the officer-involved shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo and is not participating in that investigation at this time,” Martin wrote in a letter obtained by the Houston Chronicle, noting that the department also has not received a request from local law enforcement or prosecutors.
Rangers sticking to policy, DPS says
DPS already had announced that the rangers would not be investigating Salgado’s death, but Houston Democrats had hoped their request might carry enough weight to reverse that decision.
“The Texas Rangers possess statewide jurisdiction to investigate officer-involved shootings, including those involving federal officers, and to determine whether any state law was violated,” the delegation’s letter stated. “As members of the Legislature representing Harris County, we respectfully request that the Department of Public Safety open a parallel investigation into the facts and circumstances surrounding this incident.”
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While the agency does not keep a written policy on the subject, a DPS spokeswoman told the Chronicle last week that the rangers for decades have embraced such investigations only when they are asked by an involved police agency.
Jake Kushner carries a sign that he is placing at a makeshift memorial for Lorenzo Salgado Araujo along Canal in Houston, Monday, July 13, 2026. Salgado Araujo was shot and killed during a federal immigration enforcement operation in Magnolia Park on July 7.
Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle
“Typically, these requests are received within just minutes or hours of the incident taking place to preserve the integrity of the investigation,” DPS spokesperson Ericka Miller said.
M. George Eichenberg, a criminal justice professor at Tarleton State University, told the Chronicle last week that state police have “pretty much total discretion” to pursue cases.
“The bottom line is whether these agencies have the will, and that is a political decision rather than a truly criminal justice decision,” Eichenberg said.
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Dems support local investigation
Some Houston-area Democrats have pointed to the rangers’ investigation of another deadly ICE shooting on South Padre Island last year as evidence that the department could take on the case if it wanted to. In the case of Ruben Ray Martinez, however, the rangers received a request from the Department of Homeland Security to investigate, Martin wrote in his letter.
State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, questioned why federal authorities haven’t invited the rangers to participate this time.
“DHS and the FBI should invite the Rangers into their investigation, as they’ve done in the past,” Alvarado wrote in a post on X. “What makes this time any different?”
An ICE spokesperson said, “DHS-OIG is leading an investigation into the agent-involved shooting. FBI Houston is leading an investigation into the potential assault on a federal law enforcement officer. This is a developing situation, and we will update the public when more information is available.”
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The statement referred further questions to the FBI, which did not respond to a request for comment.
LOCAL INVESTIGATION: Harris County DA Sean Teare calls ICE’s lack of transparency on Houston shooting ‘unacceptable’
In the absence of a state investigation — or a federal investigation that they trust — the Houston delegation is banking on local leaders to get answers. Harris County District Attorney Sean Teare has launched an investigation into Salgado’s death, but said Monday that federal authorities have so far declined to cooperate.
“I am so grateful to DA Sean Teare for his leadership. A coordinated investigation by local leaders is necessary to get to the answers that Lorenzo’s family and our community deserve,” said state Sen. Molly Cook, D-Houston. “We should exhaust every resource to bring justice to the victims of ICE’s terror, and we can’t rest until ICE is off our streets for good.”
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Ben Wermund contributed to this report.