Man hospitalized after police shoot him near shelter
37-year-old accused of wielding knife faces multiple charges; no officers were harmed during encounter
Witnesses described a chaotic scene Wednesday at a busy intersection of Cerrillos Road near the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place, where Santa Fe police shot and wounded a man they said was suspected of threatening people with a knife.
Jermaine Garcia, 37, who was taken to a local hospital for treatment, faces multiple charges, police said in a news release.
New Mexico State Police are investigating the shooting, which occurred around 2:30 p.m. at Cerrillos and Harrison roads. The incident prompted an hourslong closure of Cerrillos between Siler and Camino Carlos Rey, creating traffic gridlock on surrounding streets into the evening.
Police said Garcia is facing five counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; three counts of aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a deadly weapon; two counts of attempted armed robbery; and charges of aggravated burglary armed after entering and criminal damage to property under $1,000.
No police officers were injured, state police said. Officers involved in the incident will be placed on administrative leave, Santa Fe police said in the news release.
Santa Fe police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez referred questions to Chief Paul Joye, who did not respond to multiple phone calls seeking comment on the incident.
Glen Hogue, 35, a homeless man who witnessed the shooting, said the incident began when the man later identified as Garcia started arguing with one of his “homies” outside the shelter over clothes in a shopping cart.
“His name is ‘Troubles,’ the kid they shot,” Hogue said, referring to Garcia’s street name.
Hogue said a police officer pulled up to the stop sign at Harrison and Cerrillos while the pair were arguing.
“He sees [the police officer and] starts to walk off, and I guess the cop sees him, too,” Hogue said, adding the man was armed with a knife.
After a chaotic chain of events, Hogue said police shot the man twice.
Despite being shot, Hogue said, the man “sat up like in a movie” before he was placed in handcuffs.
“Everybody was trying to run and get away and move because of bullets,” he said.
A video posted on a woman’s Facebook account Wednesday afternoon shows the shooting unfold through the windshield of her vehicle as she drives along Cerrillos toward Pete’s Place.
The video shows police pursuing a man as he runs down a sidewalk, across landscaping and onto Harrison Road, where he drops to the ground as two gunshots ring out.
City Councilor Alma Castro, whose family owns the restaurant Café Castro across the street from Pete’s Place, did not attend a Wednesday night council meeting because she was “making sure my staff is OK and safe,” she wrote in a text message.
The incident was frightening but no one at the restaurant was harmed, Castro wrote.
Karina Lopez, executive director of the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete’s Place, said the wounded suspect is “not a regular shelter guest nor known to staff.”
A bicyclist who was denied entry to the shelter by a police safety aide at Harrison Road and Rufina Street indicated, however, the wounded man frequented the shelter. He expressed concern about Garcia.
A resident of the neighborhood said he saw “a couple of police cars come screaming by” around 2 p.m.
“One of my neighbors said she heard a bunch of gunshots,” said the man, who declined to provide his name.
It’s “really bad” to live near the homeless shelter, the man said, adding he witnesses drug use and drug dealing on a regular basis.
The warmer weather has increased activity around the shelter, the man said. He noted his neighbors often call police. “But I kind of quit because I can’t waste all that time calling the police constantly,” he said.
The man, who has lived in the neighborhood since 2006, said the city needs to take action and address issues surrounding the shelter. “They need a bigger place for what they’re doing there. They need to have a building that has area around it so there’s a buffer zone.”
Late Wednesday afternoon, Michael Davenport, 49, sat on a concrete wall near Cerrillos and Siler roads wondering when the shelter would reopen.
Davenport, who has been homeless for the past seven months and spending nights at the shelter, said he hadn’t heard about the shooting.
“I’m just on my way there to go home,” he said. “I spend all day away from there because I don’t like the riff-raff that goes on there. It’s a huge hive for drug dealing and everything like that. It’s completely horrible, and the staff let it go on.
“It’s not the fault of the staff,” he added. “It’s just a symptom of the place. It just needs to change, somehow.”