Lincoln County Sheriff's Sgt. Robert Shepperd came home Wednesday, nearly three weeks after his near-fatal encounter with wanted fugitive Kurt Sohrbeck in Ruidoso Downs on March 13, the Ruidoso News reported.

The 43-year-old Shepperd was shot at least four times, once in his left arm, then in his upper chest and shoulder, sending fragmented led into his jaw and esophagus, through to his back, severing nerves that rendered his right arm useless, and finally in the forehead, he told the News' Julie Carter.

Following surgery at El Paso's Thomason Hospital to remove a bullet from his brain and round-the-clock critical care, Shepperd's recovery has been nothing short of miraculous, amazing everyone from his doctors to the supportive people of Lincoln County, the News reported.

"Those bullets didn't do more damage because God didn't want them to do more damage," Shepperd told Carter. "When he shot me the first time, that's all I did was pray."

Sohrbeck, who had been wanted in the state of Washington for identity theft and other charges and who had family in the Ruidoso area, was the subject of a massive manhunt in and around Lincoln County.

He was shot to death by an Otero County deputy on N.M. 244 near Cloudcroft on March 27, two weeks to the day after the encounter in Ruidoso Downs.

When told of Sohrbeck's death, Shepperd said he was relieved.

"Not relieved that he was shot, but that he had been found," Shepperd told the News. "Like I said on (Albuquerque's KOAT Ch. 7), Sohrbeck was somebody's son and he was somebody's brother. Me and my family's condolences go out to that family." 

2:20pm 3/27/08 -- State Police Positively ID Kurt Sohrbeck: Investigators say fugitive had a boxcutter in his pocket when deputy approached him.

New Mexico State Police investigators today positively identified the subject of an officer-involved shooting Wednesday afternoon near Cloudcroft as wanted fugitive Kurt Sohrbeck, according to a Department of Public Safety news release.

While it was previously reported that there was an exchange of gunfire between Sohrbeck and Otero County Sheriff's Deputy Sean Jett between 1:30 p.m. and 2 p.m. on N.M. 244, investigators say that at this point it appears Sohrbeck was unarmed but failed to obey direct orders from the officer, who described Sohrbeck's behavior as furtive, aggressive and threatening, the release said.

And despite an earlier report that Sohrbeck was unarmed, investigators now say there was a folding box cutter in Sohrbeck's pocket and that the fugitive wouldn't remove his hand from the pocket as the deputy approached him, according to The Associated Press.

State Police are continuing to investigate the officer-involved shooting, according to the release.

4:55am -- '99.9 Percent Sure It Is Sohrbeck': Police believe object of massive manhunt was killed Wednesday near Cloudcroft.

A man believed to the fugitive who shot and critically wounded a Lincoln County sheriff's sergeant earlier this month in Ruidoso Downs was shot and killed Wednesday afternoon near Cloudcroft by an Otero County sheriff's deputy, the Albuquerque Journal and the Alamogordo Daily News reported.

State Police were expected to confirm the identity of the dead man, believed to be 53-year-old Kurt Sohrbeck, a 53-year-old Washington state man with family ties to New Mexico who was wanted in the March 13 shooting of Lincoln County sheriff's Sgt. Robert Shepperd, the Journal reported.

"We are 99.9 percent sure it is Sohrbeck," said Otero County Sheriff John Blansett and New Mexico State Police Lt. Michael Avilucea at a press briefing in Alamogordo, the Daily News reported.

A man fitting Sohrbeck's description was spotted by a state highway worker around 1 p.m. Wednesday riding a bicycle on N.M. 244 in the Lincoln National Forest about 6 miles north of Cloudcroft and called police, the Journal reported.

Otero County Deputy Sean Jett later approached the man on foot, and the man "rushed the deputy in a hostile manner," Avilucea told the Journal.

According to the Journal, police said both the deputy and man on the bicycle fired gunshots, and the alleged attacker was killed but the deputy was not injured.

But Blansett, at the news briefing in Alamogordo, said he couldn't confirm whether the man believed to be Sohrbeck had a weapon, the Daily News reported.

"The crime scene investigation team will determine that, but we do not know at this time," Blansett said.

Shepperd, the Lincoln County sheriff's sergeant who was shot five times after stopping Sohrbeck on an arrest warrant on March 13, has been moved to a rehabilitation unit after being treated at Thomason Hospital in El Paso and is expected to survive, according to the Ruidoso News. 

11:45am 3/19/08 UPDATE: KRQE News 13 is reporting that the stolen black pickup truck allegedly driven by fugitive Kurt D. Sohrbeck was found Tuesday afternoon by officers working a tip near Colorado and Dakota roads in the village of Ruidoso Downs.

5:00am 3/19/08 -- Police Find Fugitive's Truck: Intense, massive search for suspected shooter focuses on remote Lincoln County area.

A small army of law enforcement agencies zeroed in on a remote area of Lincoln County near Ruidoso Downs Tuesday in their search for 53-year-old Kurt D. Sohrbeck, who is wanted in connection with last week's shooting of Lincoln County sheriff's Sgt. Robert Shepperd, the Ruidoso News reported this morning.

Police on Tuesday found a vehicle they had been looking for that is registered to Sohrbeck's brother Dana, who lives in Carlsbad, the News reported.

The truck, a black 1997 GMC pickup with New Mexico license plates FZP 799, is believed to be the truck Sohrbeck was driving when he allegedly shot Shepperd last Thursday in Ruidoso Downs and headed west on U.S. 70 after the shooting.

The Ruidoso News report didn't say where the truck was located, but KOAT-TV is reporting this morning that the manhunt for Sohrbeck is centered on a canyon in the Sacramento Mountains.

Shepperd, who was shot at least four times while trying to stop Sohrbeck last Thursday in Ruidoso Downs, has been moved out of the intensive-care unit at El Paso's Thomason Hospital and is now listed in stable condition after several days in critical condition, KOB-TV is reporting. 

9:15am 3/18/08 -- Warrant Issued for Suspected Shooter: Lincoln County sheriff's sergeant still critical after taking two shots to the head.

A warrant has been issued for 53-year-old Kurt D. Sohrbeck, who has been the subject of a massive, multiagency manhunt after he allegedly shot Lincoln County sheriff's Sgt. Robert Shepperd last Thursday after an attempted stop in Ruidoso Downs.

The warrant, obtained Monday by New Mexico State Police, charges Sohrbeck with attempted murder, aggravated fleeing an officer, being a felon in possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence, the State Police said in a news release.

Meanwhile, Lincoln County Sheriff Rick Virden told the Ruidoso News that at any given time 50 to 100 officers from a variety of agencies are actively looking for Sohrbeck, who knows the Ruidoso area well and could still be in the area.

Virden told the News that Sohrbeck is adept at hiding, and with 20 years of using aliases and stealing people's identities, he could easily remain anonymous.

"If someone sees their neighbor's house that is usually empty all of a sudden have some activity and even maybe spot the vehicle there and call it in, that is how he will be found," said Virden, referring to a black 1997 GMC pickup with New Mexico plates FZP 799.

Meanwhile, Shepperd remains in critical but stable condition at El Paso's Thomason Hospital with his family at his side, Virden told the News.

Shepperd was shot twice in the head and took two or three bullets in his right shoulder and arm, Virden told the News, adding, "He has five holes but they've only located four slugs so far."

Virden also said one of the bullets that lodged in Shepperd's brain had been removed, but several more surgeries are scheduled, the News reported.

Shepperd, who also had his jaw broken in the shooting, is awake, responsive and communicating with hand signals, Virden told the paper.

Accounts to help the Shepperd family have been set up under the name Robert Shepperd Fund at the City Bank of Ruidoso and Carrizozo and at any Wells Fargo Bank in New Mexico, the News reported.

7:30am 3/14/08 UPDATE: Law officers apparently tried to serve warrants on Washington state fugitive Kurt Sohrbeck Wednesday night in Ruidoso, but didn't spot him until Thursday afternoon when Lincoln County sheriff's Deputy Robert Shepperd spotted driving in a pickup truck and followed him to Ruidoso Downs, the Ruidoso News is reporting this morning.

Sohrbeck apparently jumped out of the pickup and open fired on Shepperd, who was hit in the shoulder and right chest, law officers told the News.

Shepperd lost consciousness and his vehicle rolled backward into a ditch, where he was found shortly afterward by a Ruidoso Downs police officer, the News reported.

Shepperd underwent surgery around 5:30 p.m. at Thomason Hospital in El Paso and was reported to have lost a lot of blood, according to the News.

Sohrbeck, who is wanted from Washington state in at least three separate cases of identity theft, had a Suburban registered in his name at his mother's house, which is on Jack Little Drive in Ruidoso, the paper reported.

The black 2001 Chevrolet Silverado pickup truck he was first reported driving was reported stolen from Sohrbeck's brother, according to Sohrbeck's sister, who lives in Nogal.

5:15am 3/14/08 -- Search Intensifies for Violent Fugitive: Man wanted in Washington state flees after critically wounding Lincoln Co. deputy.

Authorities believe Kurt Sohrbeck, 49, was headed toward Las Cruces or El Paso as he sped west on U.S. 70 from Ruidoso Downs around 1:30 p.m. Thursday after critically wounding Lincoln County sheriff's Deputy Robert Shepperd, The Associated Press reported.

Sohrbeck, whose mother lives in the Ruidoso area, was traced to New Mexico this week by Washington state authorities who say he is accused of stealing several people's identities, committing crimes and racking up thousands of dollars of debt for ID theft victims, the AP reported.

Shepperd pulled Sohrbeck over Thursday afternoon, and according to a report on KOAT-TV this morning, Sohrbeck got out of his black GMC extended cab pickup truck, fired three times at Shepperd and struck the deputy once in the face and twice in the upper torso.

Shepperd was taken to Thomason Hospital in El Paso where he was listed in critical but stable condition, Action 7 News reported.

State Police Lt. Rick Anglada said Sohrbeck was last seen headed west on U.S. 70 and may be headed for Las Cruces or El Paso, the AP reported.

Aircraft and highway checkpoints were set up as part of a multiagency search for Sohrbeck, and El Paso police were keeping watch for the fugitive, police told the El Paso Times.

A law enforcement update posted Thursday evening said Sohrbeck might be headed for Arizona, the Times reported. 

"He's armed and dangerous. We're urging people not to approach him," said Anglada. If you spot him, call 911 or call New Mexico State Police at (575) 437-1313.

Sohrbeck has a shaved head and blue eyes, is 6 feet 3 inches tall and weighs about 230 pounds. The 1997 GMC pickup he was driving had the New Mexico license plate FZP799. He is reported to have a pit bull with him.

He was earlier reported driving a Chevy pickup with the license plate HGZ811 that was registered to his brother Dana in Roswell, according to KOAT-TV. 

7:30am 3/13/08 -- ID Theft Suspect Traced to N.M.: Washington state authorities say man visited relatives in Albuquerque.

Kurt D. Sohrbeck, 55, who is wanted by authorities in Washington state for multiple cases of identity theft, has been traced to Albuquerque where he apparently visited a family member this week, Washington State Patrol Detective Erik Noren told the Bellingham (Wash.) Herald.

Albuquerque police and New Mexico State Police are on the lookout for Sohrbeck and Noren told the Herald this week that authorities were within a "day or two" of catching up.

Sohrbeck, who spent time in prison in New York in the early `70s, has been stealing people's identities for decades, and has a criminal record in 11 states, including pending charges for assault and eluding police in Washington's Whatcom County, the Herald reported.

Noren, who has spent more than a month investigating the case, has stolen the identities of Edward Fleming, Steven Stewart and Bradley Allen, using bits and pieces of personal information to obtain valid Washington state driver's licenses, the paper said.

"We know darn well with identity thieves that if there's three, there's probably 30," Noren said in a story that appeared in Sunday's Bellingham Herald, in which the suspect's real name still hadn't been discovered.

The detective said he has traced Sohrbeck from Hawaii to Alaska and now to New Mexico, according to the Herald.

Sohrbeck's first known victim, Noren told the paper, was New Mexico resident Steven Stewart, who was on a fishing trip in Alaska in 1998 when he lost a fanny pack containing his driver's license, which at that time included a Social Security number.

About six months later, Stewart -- who has owned a towing company since 1976 -- started getting letters and phone calls from collection agencies about overdue phone bills and loans, the Herald said.

Using Stewart's personal information to get a Washington state driver's license, Sohrbeck then allegedly purchased two personal watercraft and in 2001 bought a new Volvo under Stewart's name, the paper reported.

Sohrbeck then racked up thousands of dollars in medical bills after wrecking the Volvo in Bellevue, Wash. -- again in Stewart's name.

All told, Stewart told the Herald, the identity thief amassed nearly $250,000 in debt and Stewart was left with the bills.

Sohrbeck has been known to change his hair color and his physical appearance when switching identities, Noren told the paper.

"He's someone who has just figured out how to get a free ride in life," Noren said. "This guy just ruins people."

Anyone with information about Sohrbeck is asked to call Noren at (425) 766-2477, according to KOAT-TV. 

Your Name:

Your Email Address:

Rate this article:
Poor Great

Comment:

BOLD

"QUOTE"

UNDERLINE