Details scarce in Tuesday morning shooting death of woman by Las Cruces police officer
Details about an early morning Tuesday shooting involving a Las Cruces Police Department officer that resulted in the death of one woman remained scarce by late that afternoon.
During a 4 p.m. Oct. 3 press conference about the incident Interim Chief of the Las Cruces Police Department Jeremy Story said as the officer involved had yet to be interviewed, it remained unclear why that officer stopped the vehicle being driven by the 45-year-old woman he ultimately shot and killed.
Story did not identify the officer, but did confirm that officer had been placed on administrative leave as the Doña Ana County Officer Involved Task Force investigated the shooting.
The woman, according to Story, was driving around 4: 45 a.m. in the 1300 block of Burley Court with at least one other person in the car.
Just one shot was fired, Story said, shortly after the officer initiated "contact." It was unknown where the bullet struck the woman, and although life-saving measures were attempted at the scene, she ultimately died after being taken to a local hospital.
The officer, who was on bicycle patrol, was treated for minor injuries he received. The passenger in the vehicle was uninjured, Story said.
Several others points remain unclear, including how long the task force's investigation may take, when video from the body camera that the officer wore will be released, and what a warrant to search the vehicle might reveal about the incident.
More: Woman killed by Las Cruces Police officer on Burley Court
Dan Trujillo, public information officer for the City of Las Cruces, at the start of Tuesday's press conference made it clear that Story would only be providing information about the Burley Court shooting and not other police department-related news that broke the same day.
More: New Mexico AG: Las Cruces Police officer charged in 2022 shooting death at gas station
That morning, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced a charge of voluntary manslaughter against Las Cruces Police Department officer David Lunsford for the August 2022 shooting death of 36-year-old Presley C. Eze Jr. at a local gas station.
According to affidavits in the case, Eze, who was in possession of a non-lethal weapon dropped by a second officer at the scene, was shot in the head by Lunsford. The officers had been called to the gas station by clerks who reported he was suspected of theft.
Jessica Onsurez can be reached at jonsurez@gannett.com. Follow her on X, formerly Twitter, at @JussGREAT.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: No new details in police officer shooting of woman in Las Cruces
