Officials provide details, but questions remain about weekend police shooting on Del Rey

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Thirteen people were stuffed into orange traffic barrels in a pull-along trailer Sunday morning. For reasons unclear to police, the truck pulling them arrived in Las Cruces in the dead of night Sunday morning after running the border patrol checkpoint on Interstate 25 the same night.

But shortly after crossing into city limits, Doña Ana County Sheriff's deputies surrounded the vehicle with guns drawn.

"Show me your f---king hands! Show me your hands!" a deputy shouted to the driver loud enough for the 13 people to hear. They complied, officials said, but the driver did not.

The driver, a 43-year-old man, responds by yelling, "I'm gonna kill myself!"

The encounter on July 16 ended with the 13 people in the back escaping before a shootout left the man dead and another person injured. But even three days after the shooting, police were limited on details beyond a chronology of events leading up to the fatal shooting.

Officials said they would not provide the name of the man killed in the shootout but said they knew his name.

Kim Stewart, Sheriff of Doña Ana County, also said she would not speculate or comment on whether deputies believe the vehicle was attempting to smuggle people across the border. But she described the encounter as a rescue, telling reporters that the people in the trailer fled as deputies negotiated with the man before officers shot him. But which officers from which department also remains unclear. 

Stewart said investigators had not determined if DASO deputies killed the man or if police from other agencies fired the fatal shot.

Instead, Stewart – flanked by officials from Las Cruces Police Department and New Mexico State Police – provided a chronology of events, presented dash camera and body camera footage, and answered questions at a news conference on Tuesday afternoon.

"And I always like to point this out; what we're telling you today could change. And, as always, new information can come forward," Stewart said. "So it's not gospel here."

Here's what we learned and what we don't know.

Flat tire leads to chase along Del Rey

The news conference began with Stewart displaying two videos. The first was dash camera footage from a deputy. The second was worn body camera footage from the same deputy.

Both perspectives showed the deputy arriving at Circle K on Thorpe Road in Doña Ana around 1:25 a.m.Stewart said the deputy was performing a "check around" as he circled the gas station in his patrol unit. But a chase begins when the deputy notices a red Ford F150 pulling an open trailer full of traffic barrels. The truck exits the freeway, Stewart said, with a blown tire shedding sparks along the road.

The deputy then starts following the truck along Del Rey Boulevard towards Settler's Pass. After about two minutes, the chase moves into the Las Cruces city limits.

About four minutes in, dispatchers inform the deputy that the truck had run the border checkpoint along Interstate 25 sometime before. The dispatcher added that Border Patrol believed the trailer was full of people.

It's unclear why the vehicle turned back around and ended up in Las Cruces after running the checkpoint, Stewart said. But as the chase continued, Stewart said the truck reached speeds of 70 m.p.h. despite the blown tire.

"It's remarkable that that rim held up as long as it did," Stewart said.

Shootout at Settler's Pass

About six minutes in, the video shows the truck stopping near the Del Rey and Settler's Pass intersection. The deputy, chasing the truck from the gas station, then hops out of his patrol car with his gun drawn.

"Show me your f---king hands! Show me your hands," the deputy shouts. The driver quickly responds, "I'm gonna kill myself!" but the officer continues yelling, "Show me your hands."

At that point, Stewart stopped the video.

She said the deputy and the man continued their exchange as the people in the trailer stuck their hands out of the barrels, attempting to yield to the deputies' demands. Stewart said the people were crammed into the barrels, some stacked so tight they struggled to get out.

After about 16 minutes, Stewart said LCPD and NMSP officers had joined in on surrounding the truck. All thirteen people in the trailer had escaped the back. But one woman remained in the truck's cabin, Stewart said. At some point, Stewart said the man fired "at least one round that results in the return of fire" from the surrounding officers.

Stewart did not elaborate on how the shooting erupted beyond reiterating that the man fired first.

The aftermath

The man remained alive, Stewart said, as police moved in after the shooting. He had a pulse, Stewart said, as police and first responders transported him to an El Paso hospital. But around 3 a.m., Stewart said the man died.

The woman hiding under the dash was treated for non-life-threatening injuries at a local hospital before being released. Stewart added that DASO was uncertain if her injuries were directly related to the shootout but said police believed she was a victim, not an accomplice.

Stewart said the investigation into the deputy's conduct could take weeks. A task force comprising DASO, NMSP, LCPD, and New Mexico State University Police investigates police shooting before submitting their findings to the 3rd Judicial District Attorney's Office. The district attorney then determines whether the officer's conduct deserves criminal charges. A separate determination will be made to determine if the officers violated any department rules.

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: Officials provide update about Del Rey police shooting in Las Cruces