Man fatally shot by deputies

Officers were responding to domestic violence call in Edgewood; state police investigating

Torrance County sheriff’s deputies, responding to a report of a woman injured in a domestic violence incident, shot and killed an Edgewood man suspected of attacking her with a claw hammer, New Mexico State Police said.

The agency, which is investigating the fatal shooting, had announced the incident in a Twitter post early Tuesday. Officer Ray Wilson, a state police spokesman, later issued a news release identifying the deceased man as 37-year-old Travis Boawn.

A local medical center had alerted the Torrance County Sheriff’s Office of the injured woman just before 3 p.m. Monday, the news release said.

The woman had been able to escape the Edgewood home she shared with her alleged attacker and seek medical care. She was transferred to an Albuquerque hospital for treatment.

Meanwhile, deputies went to the home on Skyline Drive and spoke with Boawn.

“At some point during the encounter, two TCSO deputies fired at least one round from their firearms,” the news release said. “Boawn was struck at least once by gunfire. Deputies rendered aid until paramedics arrived.”

However, the release said, Boawn died at the scene.

The news release provided no further information about what might have prompted the deputies to fire. Wilson did not answer a question about what had led to the shooting.

“We will have more information and an update available after the deputies involved are interviewed,” he wrote in an email.

He said in the news release the Torrance County deputies will not be identified by state police.

The incident occurred just three days after a state police officer was shot near Edgewood.

The officer had been responding to a report of a suspicious person at a gas station in the community Friday morning. When he tried to speak with a man and a woman in a Cadillac, state police said, the man drove the vehicle in reverse, ramming the officer’s patrol car, then sped away.

Following a high-speed chase, the officer performed a maneuver to stop the fleeing Cadillac, causing it to crash into a guardrail.

The officer and the driver exchanged gunfire, and the officer was struck, state police said. The couple ran from the scene, spurring a multiagency search.

The Associated Press reported two suspects were arrested Saturday in McIntosh, a community about 20 miles southeast of Edgewood, and charged with crimes tied to the shooting.

Caleb Dustin Elledge, 24, was charged with assault with intent to commit a violent felony on a peace officer; tampering with evidence; aggravated battery on a peace officer causing great bodily harm; possession of a firearm or a destructive device by a felon; and criminal damage to property over $1,000.

Alanna Martinez, 22, was charged with harboring or aiding a felon.