NM state police say armed Carlsbad man killed by deputies

CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) — A Carlsbad man who had an argument with his girlfriend and then left their home with her cell phone and a handgun was shot and killed by Eddy County sheriff’s deputies after he reportedly pointed the gun at deputies, New Mexico State Police said late Friday.

The two deputies who fired at 48-year-old Gabriel Mesa provided medical aid until emergency medical technicians arrived, but he did not survive. The shooting happened Thursday evening, and New Mexico state police issued a statement about it a day later.

Maestas’s girlfriend, who was not identified, called deputies and said he was intoxicated. She said they had argued before he took her phone and the gun, pushed her out of the way and left the house.

Deputies found Mesa about two blocks away in an open field and tried to persuade him to surrender peacefully, the state police statement said. Instead, he pointed the gun at the deputies and both fired at him.

State police said they will work to independently confirm the accounts of the incident and provide a report to the district attorney’s office, which will determine if the shooting was justified.

The names of the officers were not released.