APD: Man fatally shot parents, brother at Albuquerque home before killing self across town

A 911 caller reported a presumed electrical fire at their neighbor’s home early Saturday morning as smoke billowed from the swamp cooler. Firefighters who responded found much more than flames — the bodies of Stephen and Marcia Bockemeier, 76 and 77, and their 48-year-old son Erik were pulled from the Northeast Albuquerque house, all shot to death.

Less than two hours later, according to police, officers found the couple’s other son Andrew Bockemeier, a former attorney, had shot himself at the entrance of the State Bar of New Mexico headquarters. A note was found at the scene, along with a gun that police say was matched to the bullet casings where the 35-year-old’s parents and brother were killed.

Albuquerque Police Department spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos said no suspects are believed to be outstanding.

“Essentially, it appears, at this point in the investigation, that an adult killed his family members,” he said. “Apparently there are two elderly parents and they have three sons.”

Gallegos would not detail the contents of the note found with Andrew Bockemeier. He said he did not know how the fire was set at the family’s home in the 2800 block of Georgia NE, near Louisiana and Candelaria. The motive for the apparent murder-suicide is unclear.

Court records show Andrew Bockemeier, who graduated from the University of New Mexico School of Law in 2020, had his license suspended in 2024 for failing to comply “with some or all of the annual license renewal requirements.” For some time, Andrew Bockemeier worked as an attorney for the law firm Walz and Associates.

His father Stephen had been an assistant pastor at Albuquerque Revival Church.

Albuquerque Fire Rescue spokesperson Lt. Jason Fejer said, in a news release Saturday afternoon, that the investigation into what started the fire at the Bockemeier home was “active and ongoing.”

Fejer said AFR responded around 6 a.m. to reports of an electrical fire and found the home partly ablaze. He said the fire was brought under control quickly and firefighters found a person dead inside the house.

“After removing the first victim ... two more victims were located inside the residence,” Fejer said.

Gallegos said at 7:53 a.m. officers were called to the parking lot of the State Bar headquarters — tucked into an office complex south of Jefferson and Paseo del Norte. He said a 911 caller had reported someone who appeared to be unconscious on the property.

Officers found Andrew Bockemeier dead in front of the entrance. Nearby, a gun and note were recovered.

“Detectives were able to — when they went into the scene at the house — tentatively match the bullet casings to the same gun,” Gallegos said. “At this point, it does appear the same gun was used in both incidents.”