{"id":194348,"date":"2026-03-07T05:26:22","date_gmt":"2026-03-07T05:26:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194348\/"},"modified":"2026-03-07T05:26:22","modified_gmt":"2026-03-07T05:26:22","slug":"footage-new-records-show-what-led-to-ice-shooting-a-san-antonio-man-in-south-padre-island-last-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/194348\/","title":{"rendered":"Footage, new records show what led to ICE shooting a San Antonio man in South Padre Island last year"},"content":{"rendered":"

TEXAS \u2013 Three body-worn cameras and nearby security cameras show the moments leading up to the death of a San Antonio man, who was shot and killed by a federal immigration agent<\/a> nearly a year ago.<\/p>\n

Ruben Ray Martinez<\/a>, 23, died at a Brownsville hospital in March 2025 after he was shot by Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent Jack Stevens, according to newly-obtained records. The Cameron County grand jury ruled the shooting a justifiable homicide<\/a>.<\/p>\n

More than 100 documents, including camera footage, evidence photos, witness statements and reports, were released by the Texas Department of Public Safety on Friday afternoon, in response to public information requests by KSAT 12 and other media outlets.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what we learned from the documents released:<\/p>\n

11:17 p.m. – Crash shuts down intersection, HSI assists with traffic<\/p>\n

Surveillance video shows a car crash at the intersection of Padre Boulevard and Marlin Street on March 14, 2025. HSI special agents and Texas Game Wardens helped direct traffic following the incident.<\/p>\n

11:41 p.m. – Martinez stopped by Texas game wardens, contradictory commands given<\/p>\n

Martinez is seen driving towards the crash scene in a blue Ford Fusion on bodycam footage from a game warden.<\/p>\n

The warden stops Martinez, who is seen briefly holding an open bottle of liquor. KSAT already reported 25-year-old Joshua Orta was the passenger in the vehicle<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Ruben Ray Martinez seen in body-worn camera footage holding a bottle of liquor while driving on March 14, 2025. (Texas Parks & Wildlife)<\/p>\n

While the footage does not have audio for the interaction, a separate angle picks up audio of an official telling Martinez to pull over in a nearby parking space, citing his open container.<\/p>\n

Seconds later, someone is heard saying \u201ckeep going,\u201d and the game warden moved his flashlight back and forth.<\/p>\n

In a supplemental report by Texas Parks & Wildlife, the game warden said a South Padre Island Police Department investigator told him to let the vehicle through to the next game warden ahead.<\/p>\n

The game warden downstream of traffic is seen on his own bodycam footage asking officials where the sedan is going, and then asks Martinez where he is going.<\/p>\n

11:42 p.m. – Martinez drives into crash intersection, shot by HSI agent<\/p>\n

Martinez paused for a moment at the second officer, the videos show, before he drove towards the crash site.<\/p>\n

Multiple officers yelled for Martinez to stop, and the vehicle came to a stop. In one of the videos, someone is then heard saying, \u201cOnce he is stopped, pull him out.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Martinez\u2019s vehicle was then seen attempting to make a left turn. Stevens was pulling on the driver\u2019s side door handle, while another HSI agent was standing in front of the vehicle.<\/p>\n

It is unclear what happens next, but a Department of Homeland Security spokesperson told KSAT two weeks ago that the other agent was hit by Martinez\u2019s car.<\/p>\n

Orta said that the agent banged on the hood of the vehicle; however, according to attorneys representing Martinez\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

As Martinez\u2019s vehicle begins to move forward, Stevens fires three shots from his weapon. Someone is again heard yelling to stop the vehicle after the shots were fired.<\/p>\n

KSAT is not publishing video from the incident after shots were fired, to respect the privacy of Martinez\u2019s family.<\/p>\n

11:43 p.m. – Martinez pulled out of vehicle, given medical attention<\/p>\n

After the vehicle came to a complete stop, Stevens is seen with his gun pointed at the vehicle.<\/p>\n

The bodycam footage briefly pans away, before returning with the driver\u2019s side door open and Martinez\u2019s leg exiting the vehicle.<\/p>\n

Stevens then pulls Martinez out of the vehicle, the video shows, and he is placed in handcuffs by another official.<\/p>\n

An official can be heard 45 seconds later calling to get medical assistance for Martinez. First responders are seen on the bodycam footage 15 seconds later.<\/p>\n

1:27 a.m. – Martinez pronounced dead at a Brownsville hospital<\/p>\n

Records show Martinez was pronounced dead at 1:27 a.m. on the morning of March 15, after he was taken to a Brownsville hospital. He died from several gunshot wounds.<\/p>\n

Toxicology reports showed alcohol and THC were in Martinez\u2019s system at the time of his death. His blood alcohol content was 0.124, above the legal limit to operate a motor vehicle.<\/p>\n

4:47 a.m. – Orta tells Texas Rangers what took place in early-morning interview<\/p>\n

More than five hours after the shooting, Orta was interviewed by Texas Rangers investigating the incident.<\/p>\n

\u201cAround cops…we tend to get jittery,\u201d Orta said in the interview. \u201cHe just kind of had a reaction. I guess kind of pushed the gas, but I know he didn\u2019t like to floor it. It was barely moving.\u201d<\/p>\n

Orta died in a high-speed car crash last month, KSAT previously reported, prior to the grand jury hearing for the shooting. It is unclear if the interview was provided to the grand jury<\/a> during the proceedings.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw the officer kind of get on the hood,\u201d Orta said. \u201cLike (Martinez) didn\u2019t hit him, but like it kind of… caught his feet.\u201d <\/p>\n

The Texas Department of Public Safety sent Orta\u2019s interview, along with videos and photos of the incident, to the Cameron County District Attorney\u2019s office.<\/p>\n

In a statement to KSAT regarding the new footage, attorneys for Martinez\u2019s family said that the evidence calls ICE\u2019s account into question.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese new videos confirm that Ruben\u2019s car was barely moving when he was shot,\u201d attorneys Charles and Alex Stamm said. \u201cThat he was braking, not accelerating. That nobody was on the hood of his car. That nobody was in front of his car when he was shot. That he was shot at point-blank range through his side window by an ICE agent who was in no danger.\u201d<\/p>\n

KSAT has been following developments in the shooting death of Ruben Ray Martinez<\/a> last March. Read more of our reporting below:<\/p>\n

Copyright 2026 by KSAT – All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TEXAS \u2013 Three body-worn cameras and nearby security cameras show the moments leading up to the death of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":194349,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[18397,1829,71294,4976,69993,82,84,83,95,9040,27,51314],"class_list":{"0":"post-194348","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-san-antonio","8":"tag-hsi","9":"tag-ice","10":"tag-joshua-orta","11":"tag-ksat-investigates","12":"tag-ruben-ray-martinez","13":"tag-san-antonio","14":"tag-san-antonio-headlines","15":"tag-san-antonio-news","16":"tag-shooting","17":"tag-south-padre-island","18":"tag-texas","19":"tag-we-follow-through"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194348","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=194348"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/194348\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/194349"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=194348"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=194348"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=194348"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}