BCSO releases more details on fatal shooting
Deputy who fired weapon rescued hostages in dead man’s car
Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputy Pete Martinez was hanging from the front passenger door when he fired two shots into Raymond Cruz’s torso.
Cruz, who was with two hostages he had kidnapped from a nearby home they were staying in, died at the scene Friday morning, Undersheriff Rudy Mora said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Mora identified the people involved and gave some additional information about the July 28 deputy-involved shooting south of Albuquerque. The shooting was one of three that deputies were involved in last week.
Mora said Cruz didn’t have a gun.
“The only weapon was the 3,500-pound vehicle,” he said.
Mora also asked the public’s help in finding Sonia Myrtle, 46, who was with Cruz at Isleta Resort and Casino the night before and morning of the shooting.
The chaotic incident started when deputies were called to the casino’s golf course, where Cruz was trying to steal a golf cart about 5:48 a.m., Mora said. Over the next hour, Mora said Cruz broke into a retired law enforcement officer’s vehicle, and then broke into a neighbor’s home, kidnapped a man and woman, and led deputies on a chase that ended on a dirt road southwest of Isleta when Martinez used a “PIT maneuver,” in which an officer sideswipes a vehicle to end a chase.
Mora said Martinez then ran to the car and opened the door to free the hostages when Cruz accelerated in reverse and started to drag Martinez, who opened fire.
Mora said the hostages were shaken up but not injured. Martinez had a fractured toe and other injuries but is OK. He’ll be on light duty for a while when he
returns to work, Mora said.
“Taking someone’s life is never something any of us want to do,” Mora said.
This was the second time Martinez has fired his weapon in the line of duty. The first was in September 2016, but he didn’t hit anyone.
Unlike Albuquerque police, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office doesn’t use cameras, so there’s no footage of the shooting.
Mora said that despite deputies firing their weapons three times last week, his office isn’t considering using cameras. On Wednesday, Albuquerque police released a video that showed a suspect was armed with a gun and was beginning to point it at an officer when the officer shot and killed the suspect.
“I’m more concerned with deputies having the equipment that they need to do the job out there, and right now body cameras isn’t on our priority list,” Mora said. “I’ve got deputies in the East Mountain area that don’t have any radio communications, and that’s very concerning to me. I have deputies that are literally working double shifts. That’s a huge concern to me. I have deputies driving vehicles out there with over 140,000 miles. Again, that’s a huge concern to me. I’m not going to say if body cameras are good, bad or indifferent. All I’m going to say is that they aren’t my priority right now.”
Felicia Romero, a BCSO spokeswoman, said there is an audio recording of the shooting. The office didn’t release the recording Wednesday.