Man found dead in crashed truck after police shoot at him in Northwest Albuquerque

Police say it is unclear if a man fatally shot himself or was killed by two officers’ bullets before he crashed a truck through a wall just outside Rio Rancho city limits in Northwest Albuquerque on Thursday afternoon.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesman Gilbert Gallegos said the man pointed a gun at police and two officers fired at him. He said the man then got in the truck and an additional gunshot was heard.

The shooting is under investigation by the Multi-Agency Task Force.

During a briefing Thursday evening, Police Chief Harold Medina said the man, who was 40 years old, died at the scene.

Medina did not identify the man but said in October he had threatened “suicide by cop.” Gallegos said in October, the man led police on a pursuit before being arrested.

He said another law enforcement agency filed an Extreme Risk Firearm Protection Order — also known as a red flag law — against the man previously, taking several guns from him.

“Detectives will work to determine how the man had another firearm used in today’s incident,” Gallegos said.

This was the second police shooting of the year.

Medina said around 2:30 p.m., a man called police, saying he was having a “mental health crisis” in the Puerta del Sol Apartments parking lot in the 4800 block of McMahon NW, near Golf Course.

When officers arrived, the man was sitting inside a vehicle, Medina said. Officers tried talking to him for an hour when he got out of the vehicle and pointed a “long firearm” at “two or more” officers. He said two officers fired at the man.

The man got back inside the vehicle and, according to police, a single gunshot was heard. The truck then sped forward and through a wall just outside a Smith’s grocery store.

At least two officers have been placed on administrative leave, Medina said.

Retired Bureau of Indian Affairs agent Lawrence Robertson said he was riding his bicycle on McMahon toward Golf Course when he saw at least a dozen police vehicles lined up between Smith’s and Lovelace Westside Hospital around 4 p.m.

“This is the Smith’s I go to,” he said, adding that he has a friend who lives in the nearby Puerta del Sol Apartments. “It’s scary.”

Medina said police would continue to process the scene through the rest of the night.