Police targeted in shooting

APD crime scene investigators gather evidence near the corner of Ortiz and Ross SE on Monday morning after an officer was shot the previous night. (roberto e. rosales/journal)

Three shots appear to have been fired in the direction of Albuquerque police officers who were investigating a reported theft Sunday night in Southeast Albuquerque, Police Chief Ray Schultz told reporters on Monday.

One of the bullets, fired from a .45 caliber handgun by an unknown person, struck a rookie officer in the lower back after ricocheting off the ground, Schultz said.

Schultz said no one was in custody. He would not name the officer, who he said was in “good spirits” Monday after doctors removed the bullet from him at an area hospital.

“We’re still in the process of trying to find out who fired the gun,” Schultz said, adding that investigators have recovered three shell casings and have interviewed several people who were in the area at the time the shots were fired.

The Albuquerque Police Officers’ Association issued a news release Monday afternoon wishing the officer a speedy recovery. Union President Greg Weber pointed out in the release that Sunday’s incident marked the third time in recent weeks that someone had either fired shots at or toward officers or pointed a firearm at police.

“We believe this points to a growing trend of violence towards officers and the community as a whole,” Weber said in the release. “We can never forget that our police officers head to work never knowing if they will return to their families safe and sound at the end of a shift, but they suit up and go to work every day regardless, in order to make Albuquerque a safer city for us all to live in.”

Around 10:30 p.m. Sunday, officers were called to the area of Ross and Ortiz SE because a man and a woman were fighting, the chief said.

Officers found the woman and were preparing a summons for the man, he said, when another group of men approached the officers to report the theft of a video game system and other items from a nearby apartment.

As officers were preparing to begin an investigation of the theft, they heard three “pops,” which they believed to be either gunshots or firecrackers, Schultz said.

The officers sought cover and a short time later found one of their colleagues lying in front of a police car complaining of numbness in his legs, the chief said. He had been struck once in the lower back.

The officer was taken to University of New Mexico Hospital for emergency surgery, he said.
— This article appeared on page C1 of the Albuquerque Journal