Cop says his life was in danger

A Santa Fe Police officer said he was staring down the barrel of a snub-nosed revolver and feared for his life before he shot and critically injured a 77-year-old caretaker who was responding to a burglary alarm, according to the latest State Police reports released Monday.

But those reports are not the final word on the early morning March 4 shooting on Johnson Lane, according to attorney Mark Donatelli, who is representing caretaker Robert “Bobby” Dominguez. He said he is gathering more information about the shooting that injured his client, who is a former Santa Fe Police officer and Santa Fe deputy.

“People’s recollections under stress are unreliable,” Donatelli said.

Also, the State Police reports noted that, when they interviewed Dominguez on March 14 at St. Vincent Regional Medical Center, medical staff were concerned that Dominguez was confused. He was on medication and was being treated for his injuries.

Donatelli noted that officer Charles Laramie’s belt recording of the shooting reveals Laramie asking the man why he pointed a gun at him, and Dominguez responding that he didn’t mean to.

“Even if he said ‘I didn’t mean to,’ the guy’s just been shot, for God’s sake,” Donatelli said.

The attorney said he wants to see scene diagrams of the home and get more information of the time that elapsed between the alarm and the two men going to the home.

Laramie’s and Dominguez’s accounts of the shooting conflict with each other, according to reports released Monday to the Journal, especially in regard to whether or not the elderly man was pointing a gun at the officer. Laramie said he was; Dominguez said he had put his gun and holster on the floor.

In the officer’s account, Laramie states that he took his own handgun out when he entered the home’s patio through a door. He said a door to the home was open and he could hear someone moving inside; the home alarm was off but came on again after more movement inside, he said.

When Dominguez entered the doorway, Laramie identified himself as “Santa Fe Police” and asked Dominguez who he was. At the same time, Laramie said, the man’s hand was moving to a holster on his right hip. Laramie said he told the man to keep his hands down, but he saw the gun come out and he was looking down the barrel of the weapon. Laramie said he thought he was going to be shot and he decided to fire on the man.

Laramie fired five shots, according to his belt recording. There’s a pause during which Dominguez fell to the ground, then Laramie fired two more shots. In his statement, Laramie said he fired the additional shots because he saw Dominguez’s gun come back up at him.

District Attorney Angela Pacheco, who last week said Laramie committed no wrongdoing in the shooting, said then that she did not know which of the shots hit Dominguez or if Dominguez was shot while he was on the ground.

Dominguez gave the officer a yellow piece of paper that had the alarm code on it, which Laramie used to turn off the alarm.

Donatelli said Monday that Dominguez is still being treated at a veterans hospital.

In his own statement, Dominguez told police he was having trouble finding a light switch so he could see the alarm. He was armed with a snub-nosed handgun he has owned since he was an officer. He said he couldn’t remember if he heard someone say anything. He said he saw a light in his face and heard “boom boom boom” and was hit. He said he put his gun and holster on the ground before he was shot.

Other Santa Fe officers responding to the shooting said the holster was on Dominguez’s belt, which had to be cut off so he could get medical attention, and the gun was on the floor next to Dominguez’s hand. Laramie was standing near Dominguez, about 4 feet away from the door. Dominguez was lying on the floor with his feet toward the patio.

At least two people in the neighborhood reported hearing knocking sounds in their home around the time of the shooting, the report states, adding that the noise may have been the sound of gunshots.