Deputy on leave, BCSO mum after shooting
Armed robbery suspect wounded after chase
Few details emerged Thursday after deputies shot and injured an armed robbery suspect following a crosstown chase that ended in Downtown Albuquerque on Halloween night, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office.
During a news conference early Thursday morning, Bernalillo County Sheriff Manuel Gonzales said the suspect was shot by a deputy when he tried to carjack someone near Eighth and Central after crashing during a pursuit.
“A deputy did fire his service weapon. It’s unknown how many rounds he fired, but that subject was struck and immobilized,” Gonzales said.
He said the suspect was taken to a local hospital, and will survive, along with several people who were injured when the suspect crashed into their truck.
Gonzales did not say where the suspect was wounded or how many times he was shot.
In all, he said three suspects were in custody and being questioned, but did not say how the suspects were involved in the incident.
In response to numerous questions about the suspect’s identities, injuries and charges, BCSO spokeswoman Felicia Maggard said only that the deputy who fired was on administrative leave but gave no other details.
“The investigation is ongoing,” Maggard said.
Gonzales said the ordeal started around 9 p.m. with an armed robbery at the Dollar General store at 7615 Isleta SW in the far South Valley.
He said “minutes after,” they received reports of a second armed robbery at a Chevron gas station across the street.
“That subject did fire one round in the Chevron and shortly after that got in a black pickup and fled,” Gonzales said. “Deputies were in the area … a pursuit ensued.”
He said “at some point” during the chase, deputies used a spike belt, deflating at least one tire on the suspect vehicle.
“Eventually, the pursuit ended up in the Downtown area,” Gonzales said.
The truck collided with another vehicle and at least two suspects fled, with one of them attempting to carjack someone and being shot by a deputy, he said.
“These people had no due regard for the safety of any citizens or our deputies,” he said. “If there was a best result, these people are detained right now. They’re being questioned and at least the public is safe.”
Dozens of BCSO vehicles crowded the street, fanning out in all directions from Central and Eighth as crime scene tape crisscrossed the roundabout and stretched along the sidewalk.
Near the center of the roundabout, deputies focused on two trucks that had crashed into each other, one of them missing a tire.
Karlee Serrano and her three friends stood near the crime scene tape, dressed in colorful Halloween costumes around 11 p.m. Wednesday.
Serrano said they were cruising Central for Halloween when a black truck sped by, with one wheel riding on its rim, and with three deputy vehicles chasing it.
“It didn’t have a passenger tire,” Serrano said of the truck. “When we turned around, that truck had hit head-on with another, right behind us.”
She said they watched a man get out of the black truck and run as deputies got out of their vehicles with guns drawn.
“The (deputies) were yelling for him to stop, and he just kept running,” Serrano said. “So they started shooting.”
Serrano and her friends said they looked away when several gunshots rang out and deputies on scene told them afterward that the man had been shot, but gave no other details.
“We came to see the costumes,” Serrano said dejectedly. “We’re not going to be coming Downtown for a while.”