Chicago Woman Shot 7 Times by CBP Agent Files Federal Lawsuit

Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen wounded during a 2025 immigration sweep in Chicago, is suing the federal government. Her lawyers say the agent fired from behind her vehicle.

Chicago Shooting Victim Sues Federal Government, Alleges Agent Fired From Behind

Marimar Martinez, a U.S. citizen who sustained seven gunshot wounds when a Customs and Border Protection agent opened fire on her car during a Chicago immigration operation one year ago, filed a federal lawsuit on Monday — alleging the agent lied to investigators and fired into her vehicle from behind, ABC News US reports.

Federal prosecutors had initially charged Martinez, then 30, with using her vehicle to strike and box in agent Charles Exum's SUV on Chicago's southwest side on Oct. 4, 2025, during an operation called "Operation Midway Blitz." Exum exited his car and discharged his weapon, leaving Martinez with seven gunshot wounds. Within a month, prosecutors filed to dismiss all charges in what was described as a dramatic reversal in the closely watched case.

Expert Analysis Contradicts Agent's Account

Martinez's attorneys said Monday they commissioned a ballistics expert to analyze bullet trajectories and her injuries. The findings, they said, showed Exum was not in the path of her vehicle when he fired. According to the complaint, Exum had walked several feet toward Martinez's car before discharging five shots in under one second — the last from the rear side of her vehicle.

"Charles Exum told the FBI agent on that day, within hours of the shooting, that Marimar was driving her car directly at him, that he shot her five times through the windshield, and that he ceased firing once he was no longer in the path of the vehicle. Those are three objective lies that you'll see here today," said her attorney, Chris Parente.

Parente pointed to three bullet holes in the windshield on the right passenger side as evidence Martinez was not driving toward the agent. A fourth shot, he said, was fired through the front passenger window. A bullet hole in the back of the driver's seat indicated the fifth and final shot came from behind.

"In what world can a U.S. law enforcement officer stand behind a car and fire his Glock service weapon through the rear passenger window at a young woman who's crouched over the steering wheel?" Parente said.

CBP Places Exum on Administrative Leave

CBP said in a statement to The Associated Press that Exum had been placed on administrative leave following the filing of the lawsuit. Use-of-force incidents are "thoroughly investigated, reviewed, and presented" to an independent board, the agency added. Exum is not a named defendant in the suit, which was filed under the Federal Tort Claims Act — a statute that does not permit suits against individual agents.

Body-worn camera footage from a second agent inside Exum's vehicle, recorded before the shooting, captured agents saying it was "time to get aggressive" and making other profanity-laced remarks encouraging violence, according to the complaint.

The FBI arrested Martinez at the hospital just hours after the shooting, while she was, in the lawsuit's words, "wheelchair bound and her bullet holes were leaking blood through her bandages." A judge ordered her release two days later.

Praise From Border Patrol Leadership

Messages released by Martinez's attorneys in February showed that then-head of Border Patrol Greg Bovino had praised Exum for his "excellent service in Chicago" in the wake of the shooting. Separate messages from a group chat showed fellow agents congratulating Exum and calling him a "legend."

Pattern of Vehicle Shootings During Immigration Crackdown

Martinez was among several people shot in their vehicles by federal agents during President Donald Trump's immigration enforcement campaign. An immigration agent shot a Venezuelan delivery driver in his car in Austin, Texas, last month; another agent shot a Colombian driver in Biddeford, Maine, in July. The Trump administration has at times characterized such shootings as acts of self-defense against individuals allegedly using vehicles as weapons.

Martinez appeared alongside her attorneys at a Monday news conference, citing the broader pattern of incidents as her reason for filing suit.

"If I don't, then who else, you know? Look at what happened to Renee and all these victims," she said, referring to Renee Good, a woman shot and killed in her vehicle by a federal agent in Minneapolis in January.

"What's happening is not normal. We shouldn't stay here and normalize what's happening," Martinez said.

Source: ABC News US