Las Cruces police provide some details, video of Oak Street apartment shooting
Police provided new details and released a video Monday after a man shot at three officers at a Las Cruces apartment complex over the weekend.
The video outlines a police narrative of events. It includes new context to the shooting on Aug. 5. The added information came a few hours after the Sun-News published an article about the event and the man arrested and asked the city of Las Cruces for comment.
Our initial report: Three Las Cruces police officers shot at while responding to apartment call. What we know.
LCPD video adds details to Oak Street shooting
Court records show that Jerry Lane, 68, stands charged with three counts of aggravated assault on a peace officer.
According to an affidavit, police and other first responders were at an apartment complex on the 3300 block of Oak Street, near the Union Avenue and South Main Street intersection, assisting on a CPR call when a second call at the same apartment complex came through.
The call for "suspicious circumstances" came around 8 p.m. after a caller identified himself as "Jerry" but was otherwise "hard to understand, stating there was something in his window and requested contact from officers," the affidavit said.
After finishing up the first call after 9 p.m., three officers responded to the second call. The video released on Monday shows the first officer walking up the door and knocking with his baton. Less than a second later, a gunshot is fired from inside the apartment.
That officer initially believed he'd been shot but later discovered he was unharmed. After a brief standoff, an LCPD sergeant and member of the department's hostage negotiation team phoned the man inside the apartment. After about an hour, the affidavit said Lane surrendered himself to police.
In information disseminated as part of the video, police said Lane told officers he'd been using methamphetamine for multiple days leading up to the shooting. Lane remained in jail as of early Tuesday morning. He was scheduled for a first appearance in the Doña Ana Magistrate Court later in the day.
Another near miss this summer
This shooting marks the second near-miss incident for LCPD officers and the third for area police this summer.
In July, police said a man shot several times at multiple officers at the outset of a chase on the East Mesa. An LCPD official described the incident by saying bullets flew inches from an officer's head.
Another incident involving Doña Ana County Sherriff's Office saw deputies in a shootout with a man near Settler's Pass.
In Alamogordo, Officer Anthony Fergeson, who'd spent some of his life in Las Cruces, was killed during a traffic stop on July 15.
Justin Garcia covers public safety and local government in Las Cruces. He can be reached via email at JEGarcia@lcsun-news.com, via phone or text at 575-541-5449, or on Twitter @Just516Garc
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Las Cruces police provide details, video of Oak Street shooting
