A Bexar County jury has convicted a Honduran national of shooting a U.S. Marine Corps veteran who was working as a security guard at a San Antonio sports bar, a shooting that left the guard paralyzed from the chest down.
The jury in the 175th District Court, presided over by Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl, deliberated briefly before returning its verdict Friday against Wilmer Vladimir Ortega-Ruiz, 30, according to Breitbart Texas. Ortega-Ruiz was found guilty on three aggravated assault charges, the most serious being aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury. He now faces up to life in prison and likely deportation after any prison term.
A routine pat-down that turned violent
The shooting occurred in May 2025 at the El Patio Sports Bar on Frio City Road, on San Antonio’s West Side. According to a police report, Ortega-Ruiz entered the bar and was met by Jimmy Friesenhahn, a 14-year Marine Corps veteran working as a security officer that night. Friesenhahn performed a pat-down search for weapons. When he discovered a weapon on Ortega-Ruiz, a struggle broke out.
Police say that during the struggle, Ortega-Ruiz fired multiple shots, striking Friesenhahn twice in his ballistic vest and once in the neck. The neck wound caused a severe spinal cord injury. Over the months that followed, Friesenhahn underwent numerous surgeries but remained paralyzed from the chest down.
San Antonio police arrested Ortega-Ruiz after the shooting. The case was reported by Breitbart Texas’s Bob Price.
Defense challenges authority, firearm signage
During the week-long trial, the defense argued that Friesenhahn had no legal authority to search Ortega-Ruiz and questioned whether he was actually working as a security guard at the establishment at the time of the shooting, according to KSAT News.
Friesenhahn testified that the State of Texas had licensed him to perform security guard duties and that the sports bar itself—not a security company—had hired him, KSAT reported.
The defense also contended that the El Patio Sports Bar did not have a sign prohibiting the carry of firearms at the time of the shooting. Prosecutors successfully countered that argument, and the jury rejected the defense’s position.
A prior criminal record
Court records show that Ortega-Ruiz was arrested for driving while intoxicated in 2020. He was convicted of obstruction of a highway and placed on probation as part of a plea deal. He later violated his probation, served 35 days in jail for that offense, and was released.
The conviction marks the close of a case that drew attention both for the severity of the injury to a veteran and for the immigration status of the man who inflicted it. Ortega-Ruiz’s sentencing has not yet been scheduled. Because he is a Honduran national, immigration authorities are expected to seek his removal from the United States once his criminal case concludes.
The bar has changed hands
In the year since the shooting, the El Patio Sports Bar permanently closed. All remnants of its former name have been removed from the small establishment. A new business now operates at the same address under new management, doing business as “Mamacita’s Bar.”
Source: www.breitbart.com — https://www.breitbart.com/border/2026/10/05/texas-jury-convicts-honduran-criminal-alien-who-shot-marine-veteran-security-guard-at-sports-bar/