Las Cruces man sentenced in 2022 domestic incident that caused school disruption

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- A federal court just sentenced 55-year-old Las Cruces resident Edward Walters to six years in prison for a firearms charge.

Court documents state that on September 14, 2022, Walters knowingly possessed a gun and other destructive devices while under a court order of protection filed in July of that year, which deemed him a threat to a member of his household.

"Despite this, Walters returned to his family’s residence, where he began accumulating an arsenal of weapons, including firearms, silencers, and pipe bombs," officials explained.

A domestic dispute then started, with Walters barricading himself inside a home. This caused disruption to nearby Dona Ana Elementary School, officials said.

ABC-7 was there that day and captured images of the resulting SWAT standoff.

ABC-7 also captured images of the school students were evacuated to.

After hours of negotiations, law enforcement officials were able to get Walters to come out.