NMSU police identify officer, student involved in Monday night’s shooting

NMSU police Friday identified the student shot by a police officer Monday night as 28-year-old Karsten Cuthair.

Wednesday, police said Cuthair was in stable condition at UMC in El Paso.

Police also identified the campus police officer who shot the student as Jarrod Colliver, an officer with two years experience with the department.

Police said they got a call late Monday night about a man with a gun at an apartment complex on campus.

Two officers, both wearing body cameras, responded immediately.

Officials said body camera footage shows Cuthair, armed with a gun, making threats. The student allegedly disobeyed the officer’s orders to drop his weapon.

Officer Colliver fired two rounds, striking the student in the leg.

“I can say, what I see from the camera, That I would’ve responded the same way as a police officer,” said NMSU Deputy Police Chief Andrew Bowen.

It’s unclear what Cuthair was doing with a gun on campus, but police tell ABC-7 the officer did what he needed to do.

“He took the action that he needed to take to stop that threat, so that’s the way we’re trained, that’s the way this officer was trained, and that’s exactly how he reacted as you can see fem the video,” Bowen added.