Watch: Body camera footage of Las Cruces officer-involved shooting released
LAS CRUCES, New Mexico (KVIA) -- Las Cruces Police have released the body camera footage of the officer-involved shooting on the East Mesa on June 21, 2023.
The suspect, 47-year-old Bobby Charles Crawford, was shot by Las Cruces Police Officers and airlifted to University Medical Center in El Paso. Officials charged him with attempted murder, aggravated assault on a peace officer, aggravated fleeing, possession of a firearm by a felon, and shooting at or from a motor vehicle after he was discharged.
Investigators say that at 11 a.m. that day, officers started chasing Crawford after they discovered he had warrants out for his arrest. New Mexico State Police and Las Cruces Police worked together, eventually stopping Crawford near Holman Road and Arroyo Road. Investigators say that Crawford shot at least one round at officers while barricading himself inside his car. Three Las Cruces Police Department officers shot back at Crawford. None of the officers were injured.
Officials released the body camera footage of two officers.
The first shows an officer arriving at the scene, jumping out of their cars as the sound of gunshots ring out in the background, then fire into the front windshield of Crawford's SUV.
From the other officer's point of view, you see the front dashboard of a police unit. The officer is driving with one hand and picks up a gun with the other. He starts shooting at Crawford before exiting the car. A few seconds later, the officer opens the front driver-side door and uses it as a shield as he continues to shoot. In the final seconds before the clip ends, the officer grabs more ammunition from the car door then runs to shelter behind another police vehicle.
The investigation is still ongoing. It's being led by the Officer-Involved Incident Task Force.
"The Officer-Involved Incident Task Force includes investigators from New Mexico State Police, the Las Cruces Police Department, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State University Police," a City of Las Cruces Public Safety spokesperson told ABC-7.
Court documents newly obtained by ABC-7 reveal that Crawford lives in Alamogordo.
