Army of lawmen on the hunt for deputy's suspected killer.

10:30am UPDATE: There is nothing new to report in the continuing search for murder suspect Michael Paul Astorga, exc ept that tips continue to pour in to the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office this morning, according to a story just moved by The Associated Press.

"These guys aren't getting much sleep, that's for certain," sheriff's spokeswoman Erin Kinnard told the AP.

Michael Paul Astorga, 29, wanted in the early Wednesday morning slaying of Bernalillo County Sheriff's Deputy James McGrane Jr. in Tijeras, remains at large this morning.

Astorga, who managed to elude arrest since his suspected involvement in the Nov. 5, 2005, killing of 27-year-old Candido Ray Martinez Jr. in Albuquerque, will have a harder time of slipping through a dragnet composed of hundreds of deputies, Albuquerque city police, New Mexico State Police, state Department of Public Safety officers, Torrance County deputies and other lawmen.

McGrane was shot around 12:45 a.m. Wednesday during what appeared to be a routine traffic stop on N.M. 337 near Old Highway 66 in Tijeras.

Astorga is described as a Hispanic male with brown hair, brown eyes, 5 feet 11 inches tall, 160 or more pounds, medium build, heavily tattooed, and is considered armed and extremely dangerous.

Anyone with information should not approach him but call 911 or the Bernalillo County Sheriff's Office tip line at 768-4395.

Flags are flying at half-staff today throughout New Mexico in honor of the 38-year-old McGrane.

Be sure to read all the coverage in today's Albuquerque Journal and stay tuned to ABQjournal.com for any developments during the day.

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