Albuquerque police fatally shoot man; Third shooting in 2015

Police in Albuquerque, New Mexico, shot and killed a man during a  violent shootout on Tuesday afternoon that police say was started by the victim firing his gun at the officers on the scene. A second man was injured during the incident, but department officials say that it was not due to a police bullet. The incident was the third shooting involving Albuquerque police in 2015.

No officers were seriously injured in the shootout, said department spokesman Tanner Tixier, and as of early this morning police investigators had not yet spoken with the officer involved in the shooting. Very few details were released and police did not say what caused the event.

Police officials said the man involved was wearing body armor and shot at the officers first. An unidentified weapon was found nearby.

The Albuquerque police department has faced significant scrutiny recently after a federal report heavily criticized the department’s use of force and violence. Since 2010, Albuquerque police officers have been involved in 42 shootings, with 29 of them being fatal. These numbers include Tuesday’s event. The city of Albuquerque and the United States Justice Department’s Office of Civil Rights have been investigating the city’s police branch, and are currently reviewing and crafting major changes to its operating procedures. Tuesday’s incident came just one day after District Attorney Kari Brandenburg filed murder charges against two other Albuquerque police officers for the killing of a homeless man last March.

 

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