Police shoot, kill man off East Central

Mar. 20—Albuquerque police officers shot and killed a man who reportedly pointed a gun at multiple people Saturday afternoon at a shopping center off East Central.

Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina said at an evening news briefing that at least one officer fired on the man during "an altercation."

The man — who was not identified — was pronounced dead at the scene near Central and Tramway. No officers were injured in the incident.

Medina said he did not know if the man had pointed or fired a gun at police and they had yet to find a firearm at the scene.

He said officers responded around 5 p.m. to the Pizza 9, near Central and Tramway, after "numerous" 911 calls of a man pointing a gun at people in the area.

Medina said one caller was a friend of the man who said the two had gotten into a dispute and the man was armed.

At one point, Medina said, the man called 911 himself but Medina did not elaborate on what was said.

He said when police arrived the situation escalated to the "point where at least one officer fired their weapon," fatally striking the man.

He said there was "no indication" that the man had fired a gun before coming into contact with the officers.

"It's still very early in the investigation, we have gotten information that — a lot of people stated — he was armed with a firearm," Medina said. "We haven't even gotten to that point of processing the scene. As soon as we know if a firearm was recovered, we will be putting that information out."

The incident comes less than a week after Albuquerque police fatally shot a man who shot three people, killing one, near Montgomery and Tramway.