SAN PADRE ISLAND, Texas — Federal immigration agents reported a nearly fourfold spike in use-of-force incidents in early 2025, including the fatal shooting of San Antonio resident Ruben Ray Martinez, according to internal emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

Martinez, 23, died from multiple gunshot wounds on his birthday after his vehicle struck an agent during a chaotic traffic scene near a car accident. Agents with Homeland Security Investigations were assisting local police when Martinez approached and failed to follow commands to exit his car. He accelerated instead, hitting one agent who landed on the vehicle’s roof. Another agent then fired into the car. Martinez succumbed to his injuries at a hospital. The struck agent received treatment for a knee injury and was released.

American Oversight, the nonprofit that secured the documents on Feb. 17, highlighted the emails as evidence of heightened violence by Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers. The group noted 67 use-of-force incidents in the first two months of 2025, up from 17 the prior year. ‘These records paint a deeply troubling picture of the violent methods used by ICE,’ executive director Chioma Chukwu said in a statement. She pointed to hospitalizations, bystanders caught in operations and Martinez’s death.

DHS officials countered that agents faced 23 attacks or injuries in that period, including assaults with vehicles and a protester biting off an agent’s finger. Those events took place in Chicago, Dallas, San Diego, Maine, New York City and Colorado Springs, a department spokesperson told reporters.

Martinez’s case marks the third known death of a U.S. citizen by a federal immigration agent since the crackdown began. In Minneapolis, Renee Nicole Good, a local resident, was shot and killed on Jan. 7 after an agent claimed she tried to run him over with her car. On Jan. 24, Alex Pretti died after allegedly interfering with an operation and resisting arrest, according to police accounts.

The documents, reviewed by multiple outlets, reveal DHS awareness of escalating force even against civilians not targeted in immigration raids. Training practices outlined in the emails showed agents drilling on rapid escalation during operations. Nationwide protests have followed the policy shift, though DHS had not publicly acknowledged citizen deaths until the records surfaced.

American Oversight filed its FOIA request and lawsuit to compel release of the materials, which also covered ICE data tracking. The surge aligns with stepped-up arrests and detentions under executive orders. No charges have been announced against the agents involved in Martinez’s shooting or the Minneapolis cases.