Officers responding to a domestic dispute tried to shoot an armed man before detaining him by other means Wednesday night near West Central, according to the Albuquerque Police Department.
Chase Jewell, an APD spokesman, said the man wasn’t struck by gunfire and police used less-lethal force and hand-to-hand combat to arrest him. He said no officers were injured.
“There is no belief the community is in danger, no subjects are outstanding,” Jewell said. “Officers and detectives with the Multi-Agency Task Force are on scene and will be for the next several hours, conducting the beginning of their investigation.”
Jewell did not identify the man who was detained or say if he fired or pointed a gun at police.
He said around 6:30 p.m. a 911 call came in for a dispute in the 4700 block of Glendale NW, near Central and Atrisco. Jewell said no officers were available to take the call and it held for 20 minutes until it was upgraded priority due to reports that a man was armed.
He said while officers were en route there were reports of shots being fired and upon arrival they came across an armed man.
“Officers gave commands to have the individual drop the firearm,” Jewell said. “Shots were fired, it is unknown at this time how many officers fired, it is also unknown if the individual fired at officers.”
He said the man tried to flee and a bystander wrestled the gun from him and threw it over a fence. Jewell said officers then used less-lethal force “and slowed things down” but he did not elaborate on the force used.
He said police then encountered the man as he was holding a separate bystander hostage “possibly in a choke hold.” Jewell said the man had an object in his hand but identified it as only a cellphone so they used less-lethal force and hand-to-hand combat to arrest him.
