APD: Man shot after opening fire
Suspect expected to survive; investigators not sure if he had been shooting at police
A man shot by Albuquerque police after opening fire Sunday afternoon is in critical condition but is expected to survive, according to a department spokesman.
Officer Tanner Tixier said Sunday evening that police were dispatched around 1:45 p.m. to the 200 block of Dallas NE, near Central and Pennsylvania, in response to reports that a man armed with a rifle was banging on doors of an apartment complex telling occupants he was going to kill them.
Officers spent nearly two hours attempting to deescalate the situation, but the suspect refused their
commands.
He later went into his apartment before re-emerging and firing shots. Tixier said it was not yet clear whether the man had been shooting at police.
“Until we get forensics back, I don’t know if shots were fired directly at officers, but I do know that the subject fired his firearm,” Tixier said.
Officers at that point returned fire. Tixier did not say how many officers fired nor how many shots were fired in the exchange.
Tixier said the name of the suspect will be released at some point after his family is notified.
Officers closed off an entire block of Dallas NE between Chico and Domingo as the Multi-Jurisdictional Metro Shoot Team investigated. Numerous police vehicles sat parked near the scene, which is close to the Potter’s House Christian Center and Fire Station Number 5.
Tixier said all officers involved in the incident had lapel cameras on them, but it’s unclear whether the actual shooting was recorded on those cameras.
“We approached this slowly,” he said. “We approached this methodically, and unfortunately we still had an (officerinvolved shooting Sunday).”
Officers were in the process of obtaining a search warrant for the suspect’s apartment, Tixier said.
The investigation was ongoing as of late Sunday.