Bruce Abel "Preacher" Martinez, a 38-year-old Hispanic man, was a Texas native, born in Waco and raised in Hillsboro. His life was cut short in an exchange of gunfire in Austin, Texas, on April 10, 2019, just four days after his birthday.
In the early morning hours, at approximately 3:50 a.m., a 911 call reported shots fired in the parking lot of the La Quinta Inn on the Interstate 35 frontage road near Koenig Lane. When Austin police officers arrived, they found two men suffering from multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency responders transported both men to Dell Seton Medical Center for treatment. Bruce Martinez was pronounced dead at the hospital at 4:20 a.m. The second man, who had been shot with bird shot from a shotgun, was in critical condition but was expected to survive.
According to a police affidavit, the investigation revealed that Bruce and his brother, William Matthew Martinez, had driven to the hotel parking lot that morning.
The two surviving men told investigators they were sitting in their parked Dodge Charger when a man wearing a ski mask, later identified as Bruce, approached their vehicle carrying an assault rifle and began firing. One of the men inside the Charger returned fire with his own gun, striking and killing Bruce. Police later found the Dodge Charger abandoned on East Riverside Drive.
A few days after the shooting, authorities arrested Bruce's brother, William Matthew Martinez, then 40 years old. He was charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a second-degree felony, in connection with the shooting of the second man. His bond was set at $500,000.
According to a subsequent report, William Martinez was sentenced in connection with the shooting. The latest development in the case was his sentencing in 2020.
