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ICE Agent’s Fatal Shooting of U.S. Citizen in Texas Unveiled by Internal Report

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  • A graphic depicting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and South Pedro Island in Texas.
    A graphic depicting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and South Pedro Island in Texas.
    Image: Newsweek
    A graphic depicting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and South Pedro Island in Texas. Source Full size
  • A graphic depicting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and South Pedro Island in Texas.
    A graphic depicting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and South Pedro Island in Texas.
    Image: Newsweek
    A graphic depicting U.S. Department of Homeland Security officers and South Pedro Island in Texas. Source Full size

March 15 2025 Shooting Occurred During Traffic‑Control Operation An ICE Homeland Security Investigations special agent discharged multiple rounds through a driver‑side window, killing 23‑year‑old Ruben Ray Martinez on South Padre Island, Texas, after a blue Ford ignored verbal commands and struck the agent during a multi‑vehicle crash response [1]. The incident took place while agents were assisting the South Padre Island Police Department in a traffic‑control operation [1].

Victim Identified as U.S. Citizen From San Antonio Local coverage initially omitted the federal involvement, but Newsweek matched the unnamed victim to Martinez, confirming he was a U.S. citizen and a resident of San Antonio [1]. The identification clarified the civilian status of the deceased, countering earlier reports that left the victim’s nationality ambiguous [1].

Agent Suffered Minor Injury While Passenger Detained The shooting agent sustained a knee injury, received medical treatment, and was released shortly after the incident [1]. Martinez’s passenger, also a U.S. citizen, was taken into custody by South Padre Island Police pending charges [1].

Multiple Texas Agencies Opened Parallel Investigations The Texas Rangers, DPS Ranger Division, South Padre Island Police, and Texas Parks and Wildlife agencies were listed as external investigators [1]. ICE also notified its Joint Intelligence Operations Center and Office of Professional Responsibility about the shooting [1].

Incident Adds to Growing Scrutiny of ICE Use‑of‑Force The revelation arrives amid national outcry over two January 2025 killings of U.S. citizens Renée Good and Alex Pretti by ICE agents in Minneapolis, intensifying calls for independent investigations into ICE’s use‑of‑force policies [1].

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Timeline

January 2025 – ICE agents kill Renée Good, a 37‑year‑old mother of three, and Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, sparking nationwide protests and calls for independent investigations into ICE use of force [6].

March 15, 2025 – An ICE HSI special agent fires multiple rounds through a driver‑side window of a blue Ford in South Padre Island, Texas, killing 23‑year‑old U.S. citizen Ruben Ray Martinez during a traffic‑control operation after the vehicle strikes an agent; the agent sustains a knee injury and the passenger is taken into custody [6].

June 17, 2025 – ICE Special Response Team officer Jonathan Ross is dragged about 100 yards when Guatemalan migrant Roberto Carlos Muñoz accelerates with Ross’s arm caught in the window; Ross receives arm, hand and facial injuries requiring over 50 stitches, and later fires a Taser before being freed [3][1].

December 21, 2025 – In St. Paul, an undocumented Cuban immigrant strikes an ICE officer with his SUV; the officer fires two rounds that miss, the suspect bites an officer during detention, and all parties receive non‑life‑threatening medical evaluations [9].

December 22, 2025 – ICE agents in St. Paul pursue Juan Carlos Rodrigues Romero after he rams an officer’s vehicle, fire defensively (shots miss), and later subdue him after he bites an officer and resists arrest; the officers sustain minor injuries and Romero remains in ICE custody [5].

December 24, 2025 – ICE agents open fire on a moving van in Glen Burnie, Maryland, after it accelerates toward them; two civilians—driver Tiago Alexandre Sousa‑Martins and passenger Solomon Antonio Serrano‑Esquivel—are injured (non‑life‑threatening) and taken to hospital while agents report no injuries [8].

December 24, 2025 – The Glen Burnie shooting leaves two people hospitalized; initial reports describe two ambulances responding, later clarified as driver Sousa‑Martins (stable) and passenger Serrano‑Esquivel (whiplash), amid protests in New York City against ICE [7].

December 25, 2025 – ICE officials describe the Glen Burnie operation as the second ICE shooting that week, noting the driver rammed ICE vehicles before being shot and the passenger was injured; the incident fuels debate over ICE’s use of vehicle‑ramming tactics and references the October 2024 Marimar Martinez case where charges were later dropped [4].

January 9, 2026 – Court documents confirm that the officer who shot Renée Good in Minneapolis is the same Jonathan Ross who was dragged in the June 2025 incident, linking the two use‑of‑force cases and prompting scrutiny of ICE’s Special Response Team [3][1].

January 10, 2026 – Homeland Security Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin states the officer sustained “dozens of stitches and abrasions all over his body” during the June 2025 drag, while Vice‑President JD Vance tells a White House briefing the officer “nearly had his life ended” six months earlier, underscoring the federal narrative of officer peril [1].

January 13, 2026 – DHS revises its account of the December 24, 2025 Glen Burnie shooting after Anne Arundel County police clarify that the injured man was a passenger in an ICE vehicle, not the van, and identify the driver as Tiago Sousa‑Martins and the other injured individual as Solomon Serrano‑Esquivel, highlighting discrepancies between federal and local reports [2].

February 18, 2026 – Internal ICE records released to the public reveal the March 15, 2025 Texas shooting of Ruben Martinez, confirming the victim was a U.S. citizen and adding to mounting scrutiny of ICE’s lethal force after the Minneapolis killings, with multiple Texas law‑enforcement agencies launching investigations [6].

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