El Paso Police release ID of man shot, killed by police after man allegedly pulled gun on police
ABC-7 has obtained new information on the man shot and killed by El Paso Police Friday night in Northeast El Paso.
Police say 33-year-old Andy Martinez say he was very aggressive during a traffic stop on the 4400 block of Tetons.
Martinez was a passenger in the car when he allegedly pulled a gun on the officer issuing a citation for expired paper plates on the car.
The police report states the other officer opened fire after Martinez ignored commands to drop the weapon.
ABC-7 learned Martinez was a wanted man on narcotics charges in Arizona. Those charges might explain why Martinez was reportedly so combative with police and shot dead by a police officer the department will only identify as female and a two year veteran of the force.
“We didn’t even know he had a gun and I didn’t even know where he got it from,” Martinez’s father, Eduardo, told ABC-7. “I don’t know what his reactions were, if the gun was loaded or he pointed it at the cops. I’m not sure about that.”
ABC-7 asked Eduardo Martinez if it sounded like something his son would do?
“Not really sir, no,” Martinez replied.
This was not Martinez’s first run-in with the law. The ABC-7 I-Team uncovered several prior arrests in El Paso, including an aggravated assault with a deadly weapon in August of 1999, possession of marijuana later the same year, possession of a controlled substance in 2000 and unauthorized use of a vehicle in 2001.
Martinez also had an arrest in Arizona in 2007 for aggravated assault, kidnapping and assault with reckless intent causing injury. El Paso Police said he was also wanted for a probation violation on transport of a controlled substance out of Arizona.
“He had his ups and downs, we’re not all perfect,” Martinez’s sister Linda told ABC-7. “We all do mistakes, but he’s still a human being, you know, regardless of what he did in his past.”
Martinez’s sisters said their brother left home just an hour before the shooting.
“He was with me Friday night and I told him, ‘Don’t leave,'” Martinez’s sister Blanca said. “I don’t know something told me tell him not to leave and I told him, ‘No, don’t leave brother.’ And he was like, ‘I’ll be back. I”ll be back.'”
She said she didn’t know he had a gun or where he got it from.
“He’s always going to be in our hearts,” Blanca Martinez said through tears. “He was a good person, even though he made mistakes like everyone else, he was a good person and we’re going to miss him a lot.”
Martinez’s family said they have no idea why Andy would get out of the car with a gun. Police aren’t talking about the driver of the car, a man Martinez’s family only knows as “Kenny.” They say they believe he was detained at the scene, and subsequently released.
