APD releases video of officer-involved shooting
Suspect, alleged victim wounded
Lapel footage released Monday by the Albuquerque Police Department shows officers fired about two dozen shots at a suspect during an attempted carjacking, hitting and wounding him along with his alleged victim.
According to the department, officers Mel Acata, Paul Bellgardt and James Ortiz fired their guns Feb. 10 in a parking lot near San Antonio and Interstate 25 as they pursued Lee Brandenburg, who they say was armed.
Their shots hit Brandenburg multiple times in both of his legs. And they unintentionally hit Becky Nottke, a Santa Fe woman who was leaving a meeting of the Manufactured Housing Committee when Brandenburg started pounding on the windows of her Ford Expedition, according to police.
Footage from each officer’s lapel tape shows police searching a parking lot, their guns drawn. As they share the suspect’s location over their radios, one warns “He’s gonna get into a carjacking.”
As police shout at the man to put down his gun, shots ring out.
Acata’s lapel footage shows a man getting out of the SUV and lying on the pavement face down as a woman screams. The SUV’s door appears to have been open as officers fired at it. Officers approach Brandenburg, warning, “Do not move or we will shoot you.”
Ortiz’s video shows him speaking frantically with the woman in the SUV.
“Are you OK? OK. Where are you hurt?” he asked.
“My leg, right there,” Nottke replied.
According to court documents, police were contacted around noon that day by a bondsman who said he was trying to take Brandenburg into custody for skipping out on his bond when Brandenburg pointed a gun at him. Officers said when they found Brandenburg, he pointed his gun at his own head as they gave him orders. He had attempted to steal two more vehicles before approaching Nottke’s SUV, police said.
Brandenburg is facing several charges, including armed robbery, assault on an officer and resisting arrest. All three officers had returned to active duty by late February.