A woman is accused of shooting the driver who wouldn't hand over their keys outside Coronado mall

A woman with a reported history of methamphetamine use is accused of shooting another woman who refused to give up her car keys at gunpoint on Friday afternoon outside Coronado Center in Albuquerque’s Uptown area.

Laura Tapia, 30, is charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and attempted armed robbery in the incident.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque police spokesman, said the woman Tapia shot is in the hospital and in stable condition.

Tapia was booked into the Metropolitan Detention Center on Friday night.

Prosecutors have filed a motion to detain Tapia until trial, saying “there is no reason to believe that someone willing to shoot another person for refusing to give up their car will abide by any conditions of release.”

Tapia was charged last month with obstructing a child abuse investigation after a fire broke out in her Southeast Albuquerque trailer, according to court records. Tapia’s relatives told police that she used meth and likely started the fire — although arson investigators never determined the cause.

Tapia was released on pretrial conditions in that case on June 13.

On Friday, police officers responded sometime after 1:30 p.m. to Coronado mall.

Officers found a woman who had been shot being helped by her sister in the parking lot near Panera Bread, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The sister gave a description of the shooter and officers found Tapia a half-mile away with a pistol on her.

Police said the woman’s sister identified Tapia as the shooter.

Police said the sister told them the two were sitting in the car when Tapia approached the driver’s side and “was staring at them.” She said Tapia told her sister “she would need the car” and the sister got out, telling Tapia “she would not take her car.”

The sister told police Tapia started to walk away and when her sister turned to get back in the car Tapia shot her once, according to the complaint. A witness told police she was eating in her car when she heard a gunshot and saw a woman running away with a gun in her hand.

Police said when officers detained Tapia she had a .40 caliber handgun on her, which matched the casing found at the scene of the shooting.

It was the second time Tapia’s been arrested in less than a month.

On June 12, firefighters put out a fire at Tapia’s trailer and a family member told police they believed Tapia started it, according to court records. Tapia, who was with her two children at the time, made conflicting and “strange” statements to police, including claiming she worked for the FBI.

Although Albuquerque Fire Rescue was “not able to determine the cause of the fire,” one of Tapia’s children told an officer they saw her throw a cigarette into the closet where the blaze broke out.

Police said they requested a social worker from the New Mexico Children, Youth and Families Department to respond. Believing Tapia to be high on meth, CYFD decided to put her children on a 48-hour hold and place them with a relative.

Court records show Tapia refused to hand the children over and at one point kicked an officer before CYFD was able to take the children.