Deming man killed in shootout with police after high-speed chase

DEMING, New Mexico — Two Deming police officers fatally shot a man who opened fire on them during an encounter following a high-speed car chase that ended in a crash, the New Mexico State Police said Wednesday.

A state police statement said the gunfire occurred Tuesday afternoon in Deming behind a house on Spruce Street, where officers had chased 37-year-old Lorenzo Aguilar on foot after he crashed his car into a wall at the corner of Pine and Zinc.

The statement said the shooting occurred a short time after officers patrolling Birch Street first spotted Aguilar, who was wanted on an unspecified felony warrant. As officers approached his car, authorities said Aguilar fled and police chased after him through the streets of Deming at speeds exceeding 100 miles per hour.

State police said after Aguilar crashed and took off on foot, the pair of officers eventually caught up to him. That's when Aguilar allegedly fired shots at the officers and they returned fire striking Aguilar, who later died at a local hospital.

The identities of the officers involved in the shooting were not immediately released.