Albuquerque police are calling the man who shot and killed another man at Yale and Gibson on Sunday evening a “hero” who may have prevented a murder.
Officer Simon Drobik, a police spokesman, said charges are not likely to be filed against the 34-year-old man, but the final decision will be up to the District Attorney’s Office.
The man, an Uber driver who has served in the National Guard for 12 years, intervened in a domestic violence altercation that led to the shooting, police said.
Drobik told reporters that Xiao Gong, who owns an Albuquerque hotel, was driving her daughter to the Albuquerque International Sunport around 5 p.m. Sunday when her estranged husband, Qian Ming, 66, intentionally crashed his car into Gong’s truck near the intersection.
After the wreck, Ming ran toward the two women and fired into the car, striking the daughter in the shoulder. He then pulled the daughter from the car and started violently pistol whipping her in the street, Drobik said.
That’s when the guardsman pointed his weapon at Ming and told him to stop. Drobik said Ming pointed the gun at the man, who feared for his safety and shot and killed Ming.
“To say the least, this guy prevented possibly a double homicide. That’s what we could have on our hands tonight,” Drobik said. “In my 19 years of experience, I would say that those two females would have been dead if he hadn’t stepped in and took action.”
Drobik said police took the shooter into custody. He cooperated with the investigation and was released late Sunday night or early Monday morning.
“He saved our lives,” Gong told investigators at the hospital, according to Drobik.
The daughter is in stable condition.
