A Bexar County jury has convicted Wilmer Vladimir Ortega-Ruiz, a 30-year-old Honduran national, on three counts of aggravated assault for shooting a security guard outside a San Antonio sports bar in May 2025, leaving the man paralyzed from the chest down.
The verdict came Friday after a week-long trial in the 175th District Court, presided over by Judge Catherine Torres-Stahl. Jurors deliberated only briefly before convicting Ortega-Ruiz on the top charge, aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury, along with two lesser aggravated assault counts. He faces up to life in prison and could be deported after serving any sentence.
The victim, Jimmy Friesenhahn, is a 14-year veteran of the United States Marine Corps who was working as a licensed security guard at the El Patio Sports Bar on Frio City Road on San Antonio’s West Side at the time of the shooting.
According to a San Antonio police report, Friesenhahn performed a pat-down search on Ortega-Ruiz as he entered the bar and discovered he was carrying a weapon. A struggle followed, during which Ortega-Ruiz shot Friesenhahn multiple times. Two rounds struck his ballistic vest, and a third hit him in the neck, causing a severe spinal cord injury. Friesenhahn has since undergone numerous surgeries.
At trial, defense attorneys argued that Friesenhahn had no legal authority to search Ortega-Ruiz and disputed whether he was actually serving as a security guard at the bar at the time of the encounter. Friesenhahn testified that he held a state security guard license and had been hired directly by the sports bar rather than through a security company, according to a report from KSAT News. The defense also pointed out that the bar had no sign posted prohibiting firearms on the premises at the time of the shooting, an argument prosecutors successfully countered.
Court records show Ortega-Ruiz had a prior arrest for driving while intoxicated in 2020, which resulted in a conviction for obstruction of a highway and probation under a plea deal. He later violated that probation and served 35 days in jail before being released.
The El Patio Sports Bar closed permanently in the year following the shooting. A new business, operating as Mamacita’s Bar under different management, now occupies the same address.
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