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WASHINGTON (AP) — Recently unveiled videos reveal the fatal shooting of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent in Texas last year, raising doubts about the Department of Homeland Security’s (DHS) claim that the driver intentionally struck an agent with his vehicle just before being shot.
This incident involving Martinez was the first among at least six fatal shootings by federal agents following President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration crackdown during his second term. Several of these cases, including this one, have seen video evidence challenge the official narratives initially presented by the administration.
The investigation into the shooting, which occurred on March 15, 2025, was concluded by the Texas Rangers after a grand jury decided last week not to press any criminal charges against Jack Stevens, a Supervisory Special Agent with Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), who fired the shots. This decision was documented in records from the Texas Department of Public Safety.
In his written testimony, Stevens stated that he discharged his weapon to shield his colleagues, law enforcement officers, and the public from what he perceived as a potential terrorist threat aimed at causing widespread harm. A DHS representative had previously claimed that the HSI agent fired in defense after the driver “intentionally ran over” his colleague, resulting in the agent ending up on the car’s hood.
However, the newly released body camera footage, recorded from behind Martinez’s vehicle, fails to clearly depict the car hitting an agent.
Another video shows Joshua Orta, who was riding in the car with Martinez, telling investigators that his friend had not intended to harm federal officers but had “panicked” because he feared getting arrested for driving while intoxicated.
“He didn’t know what to do. Like he definitely didn’t want to go to jail,” Orta said. “But as far as like running over an officer … he wouldn’t do that.”
Spokespersons for DHS did not respond to requests for comment about the videos.
‘Shots fired, shots fired’
While local media reported at the time the shooting involved a police officer, DHS did not publicly disclose its agents were involved until after the AP and other media outlets reported it last month.
Martinez was just days past his 23rd birthday when he and Orta drove from their hometown of San Antonio down to South Padre Island, a popular spring break party destination. They drank with friends and smoked marijuana before heading back out on the town, Orta told investigators.
Martinez was driving his blue Ford sedan when, shortly after midnight, they came upon the scene where South Padre police officers were directing traffic around a two-car collision at a busy intersection. Also at the scene were three HSI agents from a maritime border security task force redirected to conduct immigration enforcement, according to documents.
In body camera footage captured by two of the island’s police officers, Martinez’s car can be seen slowly approaching the intersection, appearing to go straight as vehicles were being instructed to turn left. Martinez’s car slows to a crawl — nearly a full stop — for pedestrians in the crosswalk. Once the pedestrians are out of the way, the car slowly pulls into the intersection before stopping again as the HSI agents approach, shouting instructions for the driver to stop.
One of the HSI agents, identified in documents as Special Agent Hector Sosa, moves in front of the car. Stevens is on the driver’s side and reaches toward the door.
“Get him out, get him out,” one of the officers can be heard shouting.
Martinez’s car begins slowly moving forward and turning to the left, where other vehicles were traveling. Stevens, on the driver’s side of the car, is keeping pace and appears to be leaning in toward the open driver’s side window. As officers yell for Martinez to stop, Stevens pulls his weapon and rapidly fires three shots through the window before quickly backing away.
“Shots fired, shots fired,” one of the police officers wearing a camera yells into his radio.
The entire incident transpires in about 15 seconds.
Agents pull the driver from the car
The blue Ford quickly comes to a full stop and Martinez is pulled from the vehicle and handcuffed by multiple officers. Orta is also pulled from the passenger seat and handcuffed.
Martinez remains in cuffs and on the ground, unmoving, for about a minute before paramedics already on the scene of the earlier traffic accident begin to provide medical aid.
An autopsy report shows all three shots fired by Stevens hit Martinez, with bullets traveling through his left arm before entering his torso and piercing his heart, lungs, liver and other organs. The autopsy report also showed that Martinez’s blood alcohol level was 0.12%, well above the legal limit to drive in Texas of 0.08%.
In a three-page written statement provided to the Texas Rangers almost two months after the shooting, Stevens said he fired his weapon as Martinez “accelerated forward, striking Special Agent Sosa who wound up on the hood of the vehicle.” He also said he narrowly avoided being run over, being struck by the driver’s side and “causing the mirror to break off of the vehicle.” A photo from the scene showed the mirror damaged, but still on the car.
As he fired, the agent said that “still fresh on his mind” were recent domestic and international events, including a man who had driven a pickup truck into a crowd of New Year’s revelers in New Orleans weeks earlier.
“The driver’s eyes were open widely, fist clenched to the steering wheel, and he was looking past the officers on scene as he failed to comply with the loud and repeated verbal commands of multiple law enforcement officers,” Stevens wrote. “This is a behavior I have observed in my training and experience as a pre attack indicator and sign of noncompliance as the suspect is looking in the path of their intended movement and is not indicative of compliance. This path of movement, if left unmitigated, would, using the vehicle as a weapon, have resulted in numerous casualties.”
As reported by AP last month, an internal U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement investigation said the agent struck by the car was treated for an unspecified knee injury at a nearby hospital and released. The newly released videos show the agent after the shooting arresting Orta and walking without any visible injury or limp.
‘That’s when he panicked and turned the wheel’
Orta said Martinez had been drinking earlier that night — several shots and a beer — and smoked marijuana when he approached the traffic checkpoint where a vehicle accident had occurred earlier.
One officer spotted an open alcoholic beverage near Martinez but directed the car to keep moving and turn to the left. Instead, Martinez continued straight, toward the accident and more officers.
“That’s when he panicked and turned the wheel, and he didn’t floor the gas but we kind of went a little bit and I guess they thought he was like trying to run the cop over or something,” Orta said.
Orta said that their car came to a “full stop” at first. Then Martinez turned to the left with the car “barely moving.”
“I saw the officer kind of get on the hood. Like he didn’t hit him, but like he kind of like, you know what I mean, caught his feet,” Orta said. “It was just slowly moving and they started shooting.”
Orta died Feb. 21 in a car accident in San Antonio.
Lawyers representing Martinez’s mother, Rachel Reyes, said in a statement the newly released videos and other evidence showed his car was barely moving when Stevens fired at point-blank range.
“This batch of evidence shows no justification for Ruben’s killing,” lawyers Charles M. Stam and Alex Stamm said. “Still, our pursuit of full transparency will continue until we have all the facts. We, and the public, have yet to see all of the evidence held by the government.”
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