Deputies said the case remains under review after a late-night shooting on Heron Way.
SAN JACINTO, CA — A San Jacinto homeowner shot and killed an armed intruder late Friday after hearing screams and gunfire from his house, Riverside County sheriff’s officials said.
The shooting has drawn attention in the Inland Empire because deputies said the homeowner was away at a neighbor’s residence when the violence began inside his own home. Neighbors told local reporters that the man’s teenage daughter was inside the residence during the break-in. Sheriff’s officials said the homeowner was not arrested, but the homicide case will be sent to the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office for review.
Deputies from the San Jacinto Sheriff’s Station were dispatched at 10:23 p.m. Friday to the 1300 block of Heron Way after a report of an assault with a deadly weapon. The home is in a residential area near Esplanade Avenue and Wild Thyme Place. When deputies arrived, they found evidence of a shooting and a man with injuries consistent with a gunshot wound. The man was pronounced dead at the scene. The Riverside Sheriff’s Central Homicide Unit took over the investigation. The Sheriff’s Office said investigators learned the homeowner had been visiting a neighboring residence when he heard screaming and gunfire coming from his own house.
The homeowner ran back and saw an unknown man inside the residence armed with a shotgun, deputies said. He then armed himself and confronted the intruder inside the home. Sheriff’s officials said the intruder fired multiple rounds at the homeowner, who returned fire and struck him. “There were no additional injuries reported,” the Sheriff’s Office said in its written account of the case. The homeowner was taken to the San Jacinto Sheriff’s Station for further investigation. Officials said no arrests had been made as of the latest update. Authorities initially withheld the dead man’s name while they worked to notify his family.
Homicide investigators later identified the dead man as Ismael Martinez, 45, of San Jacinto. Investigators said Martinez had assaulted his 52-year-old girlfriend with a knife before the shooting at the Heron Way home. Deputies found the woman in a vehicle near the scene of that assault in the 1300 block of South Kirby Street in San Jacinto. She was taken to a local hospital and remained in stable condition, sheriff’s officials said. Investigators said they had found no indication that Martinez or his girlfriend had any relationship to the Heron Way residence. The reason Martinez entered the home remained unknown.
The case is being handled as a homicide investigation, which is standard when a person is killed by gunfire. That does not mean charges have been filed. Investigators are expected to complete interviews, review physical evidence and prepare the case for prosecutors. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office will decide whether any criminal filing is warranted after the Sheriff’s Office submits the case. Officials have not released the homeowner’s name, the daughter’s name, the number of shots fired or whether any other people were inside the house. They also have not said how Martinez entered the home or whether the shotgun was recovered at the scene.
Residents described a sudden burst of fear in a neighborhood that was otherwise quiet late Friday. One neighbor who spoke to local reporters said she heard the sound of gunfire and later saw deputies gather around the home. Another neighbor described the father’s actions as an effort to get back to his daughter after the first screams were heard. Sheriff’s officials have not confirmed every detail shared by neighbors, but their account matches the core timeline released by investigators: the homeowner heard trouble, returned to the house, found an armed intruder and exchanged gunfire with him inside the residence.
The investigation remained open Tuesday, June 9. Sheriff’s officials said the next major step is the District Attorney’s Office review after homicide investigators finish their report.
Author note: Last updated June 9, 2026.