Bernalillo shooting ruled murder-suicide

New Mexico State Police have determined a double shooting at a Bernalillo campground earlier this month involving shots fired by a Bernalillo police officer was a homicidesuicide, and rounds fired by the officer did not strike either victim.

In a news release issued earlier this week, state police say the Rio Rancho men killed in the shooting — both involved in the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta — were in a dispute involving one man’s estranged wife.

Balloon pilot Fernand “Fred” Lete, 70, fatally shot Balloon Fiesta launch director Michael LaPlante, 55, in a camp trailer Sept. 3 at a KOA Campground in Bernalillo.

State police say LaPlante had been in a relationship with Lete’s wife. Lete called the woman after shooting LaPlante, the news release says, and she called 911 to alert Bernalillo officers of the shooting.

Armed with a revolver, Lete opened the door of the trailer when police arrived, the news release says.

Officer Thomas Carter, an eight-year veteran of the Bernalillo department, said Lete had pointed the gun at another officer, so he fired shots at Lete.

“Carter believed their lives were in jeopardy, so he shot multiple times at Lete” and Lete “returned inside the camp trailer and barricaded himself,” state police say.

Officers then heard a single gunshot from inside the trailer.

State police tactical units arrived and found both men dead.

An autopsy and a state police investigation found none of the multiple shots fired by Carter hit either Lete or LaPlante, according to the release.

Lete’s cause of death was a self-inflicted gunshot wound, according to the autopsy.