Albuquerque police say man pointed gun at officer before being shot outside apartment complex

A man pointed a gun at police before an officer shot him three times during a foot chase Tuesday morning in Southeast Albuquerque, according to court records.

Pablo Pacheco, 25, is charged with two counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Metropolitan Court records show that Officer Zachary Earles fired four rounds at Pacheco, striking him in the abdomen, wrist and biceps.

Gilbert Gallegos, an Albuquerque Police Department spokesman, said Pacheco is in critical condition at a hospital. No officers were injured in the shooting.

It was the second time Albuquerque police had shot and critically injured a man during a foot chase in less than a week. On Thursday, officers shot a man who allegedly pointed a gun at them behind a West Central strip mall.

Pacheco’s criminal history dates to 2020 and is made up of drug offenses and property crimes, according to court records. He is currently on probation after pleading guilty in an auto theft case last year.

About 11:45 a.m. Tuesday, a woman called 911 and reported that a man pointed a gun at her outside the leasing office of the Eagle Nest apartments, near Girard and Gibson, according to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court. The woman said her boyfriend went out to confront the man, who pointed the gun at the boyfriend and caused him to run back inside.

Police said arriving officers found the man — later identified as Pacheco — rummaging through some bags outside the apartment office. Pacheco ran, and officers gave chase.

During the foot pursuit, Pacheco pulled a gun from his pocket, pivoted his body and pointed the gun across his chest at Earles and another officer, according to the complaint. Earles fired four times, striking Pacheco and leading him to drop the gun.

Police said officers handcuffed Pacheco and provided medical aid until he was taken to a hospital. A fully loaded Taurus Millennium 9mm handgun was found near where Pacheco fell.

Court records show Pacheco was sentenced in March to three years of probation after pleading guilty in a 2022 auto theft case. In October, Pacheco’s probation officer wrote he was “not fit for supervision” as he had repeatedly smoked fentanyl and not followed other conditions, such as going to outpatient treatment.

“Probationer Pacheco will not listen to this officer’s instructions and is better off in custody where he has a better chance of listening to stricter discipline, and where he cannot endanger anyone else,” the probation officer wrote in a violation report.