Man accused of fatal road rage shooting in ABQ foothills
He is charged with second-degree murder and evidence tampering
An arrest has been made in a fatal road rage shooting outside a charter school last month in the Albuquerque foothills.
Salvador Cervantes, 25, is charged with second-degree murder and tampering with evidence in the Jan. 21 death of 29-yearold Christopher Hernandez.
Cervantes was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Friday morning. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
Police said Cervantes told them the shooting was in selfdefense, but also that he could have driven away without shooting at Hernandez and his friend.
Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque
Police Department spokesman, said detectives consulted with the 2nd Judicial District Attorney’s Office and decided to charge Cervantes with murder in the case.
According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court:
Officers responded around 9:45 p.m. to Presbyterian Kaseman Hospital after Hernandez was brought in with a fatal gunshot wound. Hernandez’s friend told police they were in a road rage incident after cutting off another driver.
The friend said they chased the driver to the parking lot of the Albuquerque School of Excellence at Tramway and Lomas. The friend told police he and Hernandez got out of the car before the other driver shot at them, striking Hernandez.
Surveillance video showed Hernandez’s friend was armed, but did not point or fire his gun before the driver of the other car opened fire. Police were able to match the suspect’s car to a hit-and-run crash report on Jan. 28, identifying the driver as Cervantes.
Police detained Cervantes this week and, about the homicide, he told police he wished he could “change things but what is done is done.” He said Hernandez and his friend brandished a gun, flipped him off and chased him.
Cervantes told police he “gave them more than enough chances to leave him alone,” but then added “I made a mistake because I feel like I could have still drove off.” Cervantes said Hernandez got out of the car holding a gun in the school parking lot before he opened fire on him.
Police said surveillance video showed Hernandez was unarmed.