Man dies in officer-involved shooting in Las Cruces

Las Cruces Police and a multi-agency task force are investigating an apparent domestic altercation that led to a deadlyofficer-involved shooting Tuesday afternoon.

Jose Estrada, 37, died at an El Paso hospital later that evening.

Las Cruces police officers were dispatched to calls of a man with a gun threatening neighbors at around 3:45 p.m. Tuesday on the 1300 block of Bronco Way.

Police said when officers arrived, Estrada was standing outside his home. Police said Estrada disobeyed commands from officers, went inside and came back out with what looked like an assault-style rifle that he pointed at the officers.

Officers shot at Estrada and hit him at least once in the chest.

Estrada was transported by ambulance to Memorial Medical Center and then airlifted to University Medical Center of El Paso where he died shortly after 6:30 p.m.

The investigation has revealed that the weapon Estrada pointed at the officers strongly resembles AR-15/M-16 style rifles. The rifle Estrada pointed at officers was determined to be a Crosman M-16 style pellet rifle.

Three Las Cruces Police officers have been placed on standard administrative leave pending the outcome of the investigation. No officers were injured during the incident.

The multi-agency task force investigating the shooting is the Dona Ana County Officer-Involved Incident Task Force and includes investigators from New Mexico State Police, the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office, New Mexico State University Police and Las Cruces Police. The Task Force reports its findings to the Third Judicial District Attorney’s Office.