APD details two fatal police shootings within the same month

A paramedic call for a woman who broke her wrist turned fatal when Albuquerque police shot her husband after he fired a handgun outside the family’s home. Two weeks later, officers shot and killed a woman brandishing a knife outside of a hotel in Northeast Albuquerque.

The Albuquerque Police Department on Friday shared lapel video and other evidence from the Aug. 2 and Aug. 19 shootings that left 33-year-old Martin Hernandez and 53-year-old Lelani Tripp dead.

The shootings were the 11th and 12th shootings by Albuquerque officers this year. Eight of those shootings have been fatal.

Aug. 2 shooting

Gilbert Gallegos, spokesperson for the Albuquerque Police Department, said Albuquerque Fire Rescue responded around 2 p.m. after a woman reportedly broke her wrist in a fall.

Paramedics arrived at the home in the 1200 block of Menaul NE, near Tramway, but were forced to evacuate after hearing multiple gunshots inside, Gallegos said at a news conference. The woman and AFR called for officers to respond to the scene.

“My husband has a gun, and he’s hurting me,” the woman — later identified as Hernandez’s wife — cried to a 911 dispatcher. “He’s suicidal, and I’m scared.” Gunshots could be heard in the background.

The woman told the dispatcher that Hernandez, while drunk, had fired gunshots into the trash can and threatened her, according to the 911 call. She told police her young daughter was also inside the home.

Officers arrived around 2:30 p.m. and made contact with Hernandez’s wife and a neighbor, Gallegos said.

Lapel video showed the wife’s wrist bent at an unnatural angle. She told police she may have broken it when Hernandez pushed her because he believed she was cheating.

“He’s suicidal, so he wants them (police) to hurt him,” the wife told officers. “Please don’t hurt him; that’s what he wants.”

Hernandez exited the residence moments later with a gun in his hands, Gallegos said. For roughly six minutes, officers ordered Hernandez to drop the gun, but he did not listen. Hernandez then fired one round into a cinder block wall.

Lapel footage shows one of the officers fired a less-lethal 40 mm round at Hernandez but missed.

Officer Zackary Herbst, who has been with the department for 11 years and has had three prior police shootings, requested the officer fire another 40 mm, but the second shot also missed. Herbst then fired one round from his rifle, which fatally struck Hernandez in the chest.

One handgun and two magazines were found near Hernandez, police said. The gun had seven rounds and one in the chamber. Police observed multiple bullet holes inside the house and in the walls outside of the home.

“Had Hernandez survived, he would have been charged with felony domestic violence, aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and child endangerment,” Gallegos said.

Aug. 19 shooting

Officers responded around 2:30 a.m. to the Los Altos Lofts on Eubank and Hotel NE, near Interstate 40, for reports that a woman living in the apartment next door was having a mental health crisis.

According to the caller, the neighbor — 53-year-old Lelani Tripp — was knocking on doors in the apartment and told people she had been poisoned, Gallegos said.

“The call was not immediately dispatched because there were no officers available at the time,” Gallegos said. Officers responded, but did not find the woman.

Two hours later, police responded to the area again after a second 911 call about two women and a man yelling at each other. Officers were not able to find the group and left at 5:46 a.m., Gallegos said.

APD responded a third time, at 7:53 a.m., after receiving a call that Tripp had caused another disturbance, Gallegos said. Officers arrived around 8:30 a.m. and spoke with hotel staff, who said they had taken two knives away from the woman.

“Tripp had armed herself again with the butcher knife and was currently in her apartment,” Gallegos said.

An officer on scene requested help from another officer, along with a 40 mm less-lethal weapon, and armed himself with his rifle after learning Tripp had a butcher knife in her hand, police said.

Tripp exited her apartment and jogged toward police when officer Christopher Vaughn, who has been with APD since 2008 and has not been in a prior police shooting, fired one bullet into her chest after saying “put it down” three times.

Mental health concerns

In the last five police shootings, officers were initially dispatched regarding mental health episodes. APD Chief Harold Medina said he hopes policymakers will take these situations into account and said, “Eventually, we’re going to get an officer hurt or killed.”

“It’s unfortunate our officers deal with this each and every day, and our officers are trying to balance compassion for the unhoused but also meet the needs of the community,” Medina said.

He said he believes it is time for individuals to receive mental health help, whether voluntary or not. Medina said officers have put such repeat offenders in jail only for police to encounter them later.

“My argument is really simple,” he said. “Sometimes individuals are in a state of mind that they’re not able to make the best decisions for their own safety and their own good. It’s imperative we look and see how we can start getting individuals into involuntary commitment.”