Gunshots in traffic: Why did DHS fatally shoot unarmed motorist in Texas?

Details of the first American citizen killed by federal immigration agents during President Trump's second term have only recently been released.

New footage of federal immigration agents fatally shooting an unarmed U.S. citizen has thrust a family's yearlong quest for more information into the national spotlight.

Videos and records released by Texas officials are raising new questions about the Department of Homeland Security's version of events that led to the killing of Ruben Ray Martinez during a chaotic traffic scene.

Nearly a year has passed since the Homeland Security Investigations agent fired at close range into Martinez's car at the scene of a late-night traffic accident on March 15, 2025, in South Padre Island, a resort town off the southern coast of Texas. Officials said Martinez, 23, accelerated his vehicle at an agent, an account his family had long disputed.

Little was known about the case − which involved local, state and federal law enforcement − for months. Martinez, an Amazon and Walmart worker from San Antonio, was the first U.S. citizen killed by federal agents amid the Trump administration’s aggressive approach to immigration enforcement. 

But Martinez’s case came into the spotlight only after the killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, two U.S. citizens killed by immigration agents in Minneapolis in January. Good and Pretti’s killings have drawn scrutiny by Americans and congressional lawmakers from both parties about federal agents’ tactics.