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Una mujer pasa junto a flores, velas y mensajes\u00a0colocados en el memorial de Lorenzo Salgado Araujo \u2014quien muri\u00f3 tras recibir disparos de agentes del Servicio de Inmigraci\u00f3n y Control de Aduanas la semana pasada\u2014 en la cuadra 4800 de la calle Canal, en el East End de Houston, el\u00a0lunes 13 de julio de 2026.<\/p>\n
Jacob Lujan\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n
The Texas Rangers have denied a request by Houston-area Democrats to investigate the deadly shooting of Lorenzo Salgado Araujo<\/a> last week by an U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n FEDERAL INVESTIGATION: How will the feds investigate the ICE shooting of\u00a0Lorenzo Salgado Araujo \u2014 and can they be trusted?<\/a><\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n “DPS has not received a request from\u00a0any federal agency or official to investigate the officer-involved shooting of Lorenzo Salgado\u00a0Araujo 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rangers sticking to policy, DPS says<\/p>\n DPS already had announced that the rangers would not be investigating\u00a0Salgado’s death<\/a>, but Houston Democrats had hoped their request might carry enough weight to reverse that decision.<\/p>\n “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.”\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n While the agency does not keep a written policy on the subject, a DPS spokeswoman told the Chronicle last week<\/a> that the rangers for decades have embraced such investigations only when they are asked by an involved police agency.\u00a0<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n Brett Coomer\/Houston Chronicle<\/p>\n \u201cTypically, these requests are received within just minutes or hours of the incident taking place to preserve the integrity of the investigation,\u201d DPS spokesperson Ericka Miller said.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n M. George Eichenberg, a criminal justice professor at Tarleton State University, told the Chronicle last week<\/a> that state police have “pretty much total discretion” to pursue cases.<\/p>\n “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.\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Dems support\u00a0local investigation<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n State Sen. Carol Alvarado, D-Houston, questioned why federal authorities\u00a0haven’t invited the rangers to participate this time.<\/p>\n “DHS and the FBI should invite the Rangers into their investigation, as they\u2019ve done in the past,” Alvarado wrote in a post on X<\/a>. “What makes this time any different?”<\/p>\n An ICE spokesperson said, \u201cDHS-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.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The statement referred further questions to the FBI, which\u00a0did not respond to a request for comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n LOCAL INVESTIGATION: Harris County DA Sean Teare calls ICE’s lack of transparency on Houston shooting ‘unacceptable’<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n