LISTEN: ‘Did you hear that?’ 20 calls to 911 preceded Dona Ana deputy’s shooting of man with gun
Twenty different 911 calls portrayed the fear and panic in a Doña Ana County neighborhood before a deputy responding shot and critically wounded a man with a gun last week. “Did you hear that?” one caller asked the operator after several gunshots played out in the recording.
It was after 11 p.m. on Sept. 24th that multiple county residents called to report gunfire near the intersection of Peachtree Hills Road and Chula Vista Road.
“Somebody’s shooting,” one caller said. “It sounds like it’s close to the side of my bedroom.”
“I can’t see out there,” said another county resident. “I’m not going outside.”
“Definitely don’t go outside,” warned the 911 operator.
Multiple deputies responded to the scene overnight, according to the sheriff’s office. Upon arrival, a man reportedly approached deputies with a gun. A spokeswoman for the department told ABC-7 that the deputy returned fire “for reasons still under investigation” and critically injured the suspect.
Before the deputies responded, callers reported multiple gunshots in their backyards.
“The first round was about four,” one caller said. “The second round was about five or six. The third time again it was about eight.”
The shooting happened east of Mesa Middle School where there is a vast amount of desert. According to New Mexico statute, a person must be at least 150 yards from a building or dwelling if they wish to fire their weapon.
“A bullet can travel much farther in a shorter period of time,” said Kelly Jameson, a spokeswoman for the sheriff’s office. “Unless you’re a certified law enforcement officer, there’s no reason that you should be discharging a firearm (in a neighborhood).”
The deputy who fired the shot remains on paid administrative leave until the officer-involved incident task force can investigate the altercation.
KVIA 2019
