Man shot in head by police is in stable condition
Shooting was fourth this year for APD
When Max Mitnik’s parents called Albuquerque police to their home in the gated Tanoan community last week, they said it was because he wanted officers to take him to a hospital to get help so he wouldn’t hurt them.
Two field officers, trained in enhanced crisis intervention techniques, responded.
A short time later, Mitnik’s mother screamed for help because she was worried her son, alone in the bathroom, would stab himself with a paring knife.
According to a search warrant filed in the 2nd Judicial District Court, officer J. Ruiz came running and that’s when Mitnik advanced toward him, knife in hand. Ruiz opened fire, shooting the 26-year-old in the head, according to the warrant.
Mitnik was taken to the University of New Mexico Hospital after the shooting on June 4 and is in stable condition. His attorney said he has since undergone surgery and has been moved out of the intensive care unit.
Attorney Ryan Villa said his client grew up in the area, went to Sandia Preparatory School and Colorado State University and was living with his parents while he decided on his next
steps. He said Mitnik had been experiencing mental health problems since 2015, was getting treatment and had never had any negative encounters with police.
Mitnik doesn’t have any criminal history, and an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman said he didn’t have any previous encounters with the department.
Villa said that, due to Mitnik’s condition, he has not been able to talk to him personally, but the parents, Michael and Wanda Mitnik, told him how the events unfolded.
“They’re having a tough time, they called the police for help and they didn’t expect it would result in Max getting hurt,” Villa told the Journal. “Max had not threatened anyone at the time his parents made the call, had not acted violently in any way and was trying to get help.”
APD held a preliminary briefing for the media last Thursday in which officials released some information about the incident and said the Multi-Agency Task Force will investigate, which is standard when an officer shoots someone. A spokesman said Wednesday that the incident is still under investigation.
According to a search warrant, a little before 2 p.m. last Thursday, Michael Mitnik called police to the family’s two-story stucco home in the 9800 block of Greenbrier NE “to report his son, Max Mitnik, was making statements he wanted to hurt his parents. Michael Mitnik was at home with his wife, Wanda, and he reported his son kept stating he did not want to hurt his parents and wanted officers to transport him to the hospital.” The warrant does not explain the contradiction between the two sentences.
Michael Mitnik told officers Max was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was not taking his medication.
About 10 minutes later, officer A. Eylicio and officer J. Ruiz arrived.
Villa said the Mitniks told him that the officers said they could take Max to the hospital, but if he got in their vehicle, he would have to be handcuffed. He said Max didn’t want that and decided his parents could take him instead. Max went back inside the house.
“That’s where everything kind of went haywire,” Villa said. “They accuse Max of having a knife and coming after the officer, and that’s the basis for the shooting. I would like to see the video and determine whether that’s what happened or not.”
An investigator with the Multi-Agency Task Force wrote in the search warrant that he watched officer Ruiz’s lapel camera footage. He said that on the video he could hear a woman screaming from inside the house and saw officer Ruiz run toward the scream until he found Wanda Mitnik attempting to open a bathroom door.
“Officer Ruiz told Mrs. Mitnik not to open the door, but Mrs. Mitnik stated Max had a knife and she gestured he was attempting to stab himself in the neck,” the investigator wrote in the search warrant. “Mrs. Mitnik opened the door and Max came out of the bathroom holding a knife in his right hand. Max approached Officer Ruiz in the narrow hallway and Officer Ruiz attempted to back up into a bedroom. Max continued toward Officer Ruiz with the knife still in his hand, and Officer Ruiz discharged his firearm.”
Max dropped to the ground, and officer Ruiz picked up a black-and-silver paring knife and put it on the bathroom counter.
Villa said that although Wanda Mitnik was nearby when the shots were fired, she couldn’t see around the officer.
When another officer arrived in response to the shooting, officer Eylicio and Wanda Mitnik were trying to help Max, who was bleeding from the head.
The shooting was the fourth this year involving Albuquerque police, two of which were fatal.
A little more than two months ago, an APD officer shot and killed 52-year-old Valente Acosta-Bustillos during a call that started as a welfare check. Acosta-Bustillos’ family had asked for help because he hadn’t shown up for work or answered his phone for weeks. Police say AcostaBustillos had previously been known to suffer from “meth-induced psychosis” and swung a shovel at them when they tried to arrest him on a warrant.
In early January, APD officers shot and killed 28-year-old Orlando Abeyta, who they say was pointing what later turned out to be a BB gun at a bus on East Central and threatening people at the bus stop. And a couple of weeks later, they shot and injured 32-year-old Daniel Montoya, who was suspected of firing a gun at a stranger’s home and then pointing a gun at officers.