Two men found shot to death after car chase, crash

Apr. 20—ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Two men were shot to death after being pursued for miles — and then crashing — in the South Valley Monday evening, according to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office.

Jayme Fuller, a BCSO spokeswoman, said that around 6:20 p.m. deputies were called to Coors, south of Arenal SW, for a rollover crash. When they arrived, they found two men dead from gunshot wounds.

Their bodies could be seen outside a black sedan that was upended on the shoulder of the road. Fuller did not identify the men.

She said that as deputies started investigating they learned the Albuquerque Police Department had been receiving calls that people driving a white vehicle were chasing and shooting at a dark-colored vehicle in the area of 98th and Gibson — about three miles from the scene of the crash.

Fuller said witnesses told deputies that after the dark vehicle crashed on the 1900 block of Coors SW, two or three men in the white sedan fired several rounds at it.

"It is unknown at this time if this was a road rage incident or not," Fuller said.

She did not say if detectives had identified any suspects.

Fuller said Coors would be shut down in both directions between Arenal and Huseman SW while deputies investigate.

The deaths are the third and fourth homicides investigated by BCSO this year.

On Jan. 16, 30-year-old Yahaira Rodriguez was found dead on the Pajarito Mesa. No one has been arrested in that case.

And on Feb. 21, Jose Garcia, 21, was killed and another man was injured in a shooting at an Albertsons grocery store parking lot. Kristopher Gonzalez, 27, was arrested earlier this month and charged with murder and other crimes.

Photographer Adolphe Pierre-Louis contributed to this report.