SAN ANTONIO — Shell casings, surveillance footage and a fateful 2022 traffic stop all played a role in helping San Antonio police identify a man suspected in multiple shootings on the southwest side. The toll of those shootings: Three people dead and another five hurt.
Nathan Martinez, 19, was taken into custody by the San Antonio Police Department (SAPD) on Wednesday. His list of potential charges is long – aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, murder, drug possession, possession of a prohibited gun, in this case a machine gun – but it wasn't until recent weeks that police connected him to multiple shooting scenes.
Here's how the investigation unfolded, according to charging documents filed by SAPD.
June 18, 2022
Two police shootings on this day proved crucial in helping investigators narrow their focus on Martinez.
Police were first called to a home along the 2500 block of Patron at 10:13 p.m., where they say gunfire interrupted an early Father's Day gathering. Seven people were shot, two of which would die from their injuries, and a Dodge Durango was seen leaving the scene via video surveillance later evaluated by detectives.
Just a few minutes after police arrived, they received a call about another shooting at a convenience store less than two miles away. According to arrest records, video surveillance from that scene showed the suspects' car drove by and "shot multiple rounds at a specific vehicle."
Bullets also hit nearby cars and buildings, "narrowly missing multiple people in the process," but no one at this second scene was hurt. In store surveillance video later checked by detectives, the driver of the targeted vehicle could be heard saying "Nate did it," apparently referring to the deadly earlier shooting along Patron.
Investigators determined later the suspects' vehicle looked like similar to the one seen leaving the Patron shooting.
June 19, 2022
The day after, on Father's Day, police interviewed a victim from a separate drive-by shooting that occurred earlier in the month, on June 14. The victim described the vehicle seen in that incident as a Dodge Durango, and provided investigators with a description of two men involved in the June 14 shooting, alleging they were also involved in the Patron shooting where two were killed.
But a major breakthrough also arrived on this day, when police stopped a 2011 Dodge Durango on the southwest side for a traffic violation. The three occupants – Nathan Martinez, Christian Jimenez and Darius Torres – were all arrested after police found several guns and drugs in the car.
Two of those guns were equipped with a switch, which police said essentially turned them into automatic weapons. Martinez would later mention the switch augment in social media communications.
The traffic stop would yield a more direct link: Shell casings inside the Durango, which was seized by SAPD, matched ballistics evidence gathered after both June 18 shooting scenes.
June 20, 2022
In an interview with police, a victim of the Patron shooting said he had previously been threatened by a man "he knew only as Christian, who hung out with another male he only knew as Nate, stating that they were going to shoot up the house on Patron."
Feb. 4, 2023
Martinez is released from jail on a personal recognizance bond while still facing charges of drug possession and possessing a machine gun, stemming from the June 19, 2022, traffic stop.
August 15, 2023
Nearly 14 months after the Father's Day celebration shooting along Patron, gunfire erupts in a residential cul-de-sac along the 2800 block of Mosscircle—less than a mile away from the Patron scene.
When officers arrived, they found a teen shot in the neck and torso, according to arrest records; he would die in the coming days. The victim's mother told police she was having coffee with their son when a gray sedan pulled up and "opened fire on the residence."
Just minutes after the shooting, documents say, Martinez messaged someone online to say he "caught" the victim.
Detectives found a "large amount of 9mm spent shell casings" at the location, documents state. Martinez allegedly later claimed responsibility for the killing on social media, indicating it was gang-related. A switch is believed to have been used. Meanwhile, surveillance video captured from a nearby convenience store showed a gray or silver sedan traveling away from Mosscircle after the gunfire. Investigators later found Martinez's girlfriend had a relative with the same car and "same exact distinct rims."
August 18, 2023
Martinez is involved in another shooting, at an apartment complex off the 700 block of West Mayfield. This time, according to police, he was on the receiving end of gunfire.
Martinez was taken to a hospital, where officers met up with him, but he didn't cooperate, documents state. Investigators combed the scene at the apartment complex, where they recovered shell casings matching evidence from the Mosscircle drive-by.
August 23, 2023
Martinez asks social media acquaintances "where his 19x clip was," referring to his handgun firing 9mm ammunition.
"The messages also confirmed that the only shell casings collected at the scene off of Mayfield were shell casings belonging to them," arrest documents state.
Nov. 29, 2023
Martinez is taken into custody on bonds totaling $1.4 million. He faces charges of murder, capital murder, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, deadly conduct with a firearm, possessing a prohibited firearm and drug possession.
If released on bail, he would be subjected to GPS tracking, full house arrest, and random dreg and alcohol testing. He would also be unable to carry guns.
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