‘I still can’t believe I lost my friend’: Las Cruces man shares 911 call that led to police shooting of elderly neighbor

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico -- James Davidson thought of the elderly man who lived a few doors down as so much more than a neighbor.

“I was the closest thing to family he had here," Davidson said.

Davidson said he would cook for the man, who he identified as Mike. Mike would give him rides to work. Davidson would also check in most mornings, even giving Mike a two-way radio so they could be in contact during an emergency.

“All he had to do was pick up a radio and say ‘Hey, I need your help," Davidson explained. "I would be right there for him."

On Monday, he said he sensed something was wrong.

“Before I could even get to his door, I heard him call out my name," Davidson said. "When he called out my name, I went up to his door and he had his gun sitting on his table. He pointed to it and he said he was ready to go.”

Davidson said Mike had taken out his life savings to attempt to change banks, but lost the cashier's check.

“He thought he lost his live savings, his truck, his everything," Davidson said.

After his attempts to reason with Mike only made him angrier, he told him: '"Hey Mr. Mike, I’m sorry. I'm going to have to call the police.'"

On Monday, Las Cruces police officers responded to the Mesquite Historic District after a report of a man with "suicidal" intentions.

“I walked by neighbor’s house on my way to work and he called me over," said Davidson in the 911 call, which he recorded and shared with ABC-7. "He has a gun and he’s threatening to f***ing kill himself and I need a cop here now.”

Davidson said his elderly neighbor wanted to commit suicide with police gunfire.

“He commented that he would rather the police shoot him," Davidson told the operator. "I’m worried, so you guys need to tell the officer to handle this delicately, please.”

Police say the elderly man shot at police as soon as they arrived.

"There were many attempts to communicate with this individual, either by yelling, radio, loud speaker," explained Dan Trujillo, a spokesman for the department. "I believe we tried to make telephonic contact with him also, but all of those were to no avail."

Two hours after they arrived, police say he walked out and fired at officers, striking at least one police car. Three officers returned fire and killed him, according to the department.

"He's a good guy, but he was troubled, obviously," said Tim Boyne, another neighbor.

Boyne told ABC-7 he didn't consider his neighbor a threat until he fired at officers.

Davidson said he wanted officers to try other measures to de-escalate the situation, however he did not personally witness the altercation between officers and his neighbor.

"They could have used any non-life threatening means," Davidson said. "He was an 81-year-old man. How hard is it to get an 81-year-old man to not be a threat to you?"

"If he walked out that door, shooting at them, there's not much you can say," said Boyne, the other neighbor. "They have a job to protect the other people. That poor cop. I feel bad for the cop, too."

"I wanted them to help him," Davidson said. "I didn't want them to shoot him."