New details emerge in violent carjacking at N.M. 599 Rail Runner station
Apr. 16—A police report of the violent carjacking Monday morning at the N.M. 599 Rail Runner station describes a gruesome scene: A 73-year-old man with a gunshot wound on the left side of his face made his way to a Santa Fe County sheriff's deputy parked down the road.
The man collapsed to the ground and then fell in and out of consciousness as he explained to the deputy how he had been shot by a gunman who then drove away in his black 2020 Chrysler 300.
He had been waiting at the station for his wife, the man said.
Santa Fe police found bullet casings, broken glass, a tooth and blood on the pavement of the train station parking lot, the report says. Blood also was splattered on the driver's-side door and hood of a car parked next to the empty space where the Chrysler had been.
Police are still searching for the carjacker, who critically wounded the man.
No one has been named as a suspect in the incident, and police have not yet released the identity of the victim as a safety precaution, Deputy Chief Paul Joye said.
As of Wednesday, Joye said, the man remained in stable but critical condition at University of New Mexico Hospital, where he had been transferred after first being taken to a local hospital for treatment.
The incident came a week after a shooting at the South Capitol Station left one man dead and critically injured another.
Officials with the Rio Metro Regional Transit District, which oversees the Rail Runner Express, said earlier this week they would consider new security measures to ensure passenger safety at train stations in the wake of the shootings.
According to the police report of Monday's incident, the deputy who found the carjacking victim was completing paperwork while parked in a gravel lot down the road from the N.M. 599 Station. He was approached by the man, who was "covered in blood."
When the deputy got out of his car, the report says, the man collapsed.
The victim told medical staff at the scene he had been waiting for his wife in the train station parking lot when a man, who was about 5-foot-8, came up to his vehicle. He got out of his car and began speaking with the man, the victim said, when an argument ensued and the man pulled out a gun.
The victim said the gunman shot him multiple times before stealing his Chrysler.
Crime scene technicians found two bullet casings consistent with a semi-automatic pistol, the report says.
The Chrysler was found later Monday at a motel in Albuquerque.
Last week, Santa Fe police arrested 22-year-old Matthew Arellano on charges of murder and attempted murder in the April 5 shooting at the South Capitol Station, which killed 24-year-old David Hernandez of Pojoaque and wounded 38-year-old Eli Trujillo. A dispute over a drug deal might have prompted the shooting, police have said.
The Santa Fe Police Department asks those with information about Monday's incident to Rebecca Hilderbrandt at 505-955-5265.
