One dead, one injured after police shooting near Del Rey and Settler’s Pass.
One man is dead, while a woman remains hospitalized following a police shooting Sunday morning.
In news releases from two departments, the Doña Ana County Sherriff’s Office and Las Cruces Police Department said police shot and killed a 43-year-old man and injured a 30-year-old woman around 1:30 a.m. after a pursuit and shootout on Del Rey Boulevard near Settler’s Pass on July 16. No police were physically injured in the shooting, the releases said.
DASO said the incident began when deputies at the Circle K on Thorpe Road noticed a truck pulling a utility trailer exiting Interstate 25. The release said the trailer had a blown tire but did not say how or if deputies attempted to stop the vehicle. The release did say that deputies pursued the truck to the Del Rey and Settler’s Pass intersection, about five miles away.
"Preliminary information indicates there were people being transported in the open trailer," the Las Cruces Police Department said in a news release.
During the pursuit, the news release said New Mexico State Police officers and border patrol agents joined the chase. LCPD officers were not involved in the pursuit but would be present for the final confrontation at Del Rey and Settler's Pass.
It’s unclear from either news release how or why those officers joined. But as the cadre of officers pursuing the truck arrived at Del Rey and Settler’s Pass, DASO said the man driving the truck pulled out a gun and shot at officers.
The news release said that deputies, NMSP officers, and border patrol agents all returned fire. Kim Stewart, sheriff of Doña Ana County, told the Sun-News it wasn’t clear which officer shot the man or the woman as of the publication of this article.
At the outset of the shooting, the man and woman were taken to an El Paso hospital. The man died, and the woman’s condition was unknown.
As of the publication of this article, DASO said they did not know the identity of the man or the woman. The release did confirm that the police shooting would be investigated by a task force made up of local police departments.
As it’s officially known, the Officer-involved Incident Task Force includes detectives from NMSP, Las Cruces Police Department, Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, and New Mexico State University Police. Stewart also said that DASO would host a news conference on Tuesday to provide further information.
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: One dead, one injured after police shooting near Del Rey
