Albuquerque police shootout: Radio blocks bullet from hitting officer, suspect shot

An Albuquerque police officer and a man were shot on Sunday afternoon during an arrest at a motel on Coors and Iliff NW — and the police chief said the officer's life was saved when the bullet struck his police radio. 

The officer was not seriously injured. The other man, however, is in critical condition, Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said. 

Police did not release the man's identity.

At around 2:56 p.m., two officers were looking for an alleged auto theft offender with two warrants. When the officers found the man, the man ran, APD Chief Harold Medina said during a late Sunday afternoon news conference.

When officers caught up with the man, the officers tried to arrest him. The three then got into a "wrestling match," Medina said, before the man shot an officer in the chest, striking a radio which "saved his life," he said.

A second officer then shot the man in the upper torso, Medina said.

At the time, nearby Speedway employee Shelly Granillo said she heard multiple shots. When a reporter from another news outlet asked Medina if it was five or six shots, Medina said that "sounds about right."

Moments after the shooting, Granillo said, a bunch of police cars arrived at the scene.

"It looked like GTA (Grand Theft Auto)," she said. "It was crazy."

Granillo said an officer later told her, "It was bad."

Medina said the man, who has a criminal history dating back to 2010, was arrested twice this year and had two active felony warrants. Police did not release what the arrests and warrants were for.

"Eight years later, I stand here still and it seems like we're having the same conversation of repeat offenders who are being let out and not held to consequences," Medina said. "... It's disappointing. Our officers put their lives on the line every single day and we need some changes to the system."