Armed man shot by Las Cruces police in March is indicted

LAS CRUCES — A high school student who was shot by a Las Cruces police officer during a foot chase in March has been indicted on a felony charge of aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon.

Gabriel Padilla, 19, was wounded on March 13 after fleeing on foot from an officer investigating reports of a person roaming around a commercial parking lot, displaying a handgun and firing it twice.

Police body camera footage recorded the ensuing chase on a busy street near downtown, when the officer repeatedly yells, “Stop reaching!” before firing approximately five rounds at Padilla, who appears to hold a firearm as he falls to the ground. Police Chief Jeremy Story aired the video footage at a news conference one week after the shooting.

The indictment identifies the officer as Bobby Lopez.

In addition to the aggravated assault charge, a third-degree felony, Padilla was charged with negligent use of a deadly weapon involving discharge, a petty misdemeanor, and a misdemeanor count of resisting, evading or obstructing an officer during an arrest.

Padilla’s case was dismissed by District Judge Douglas Driggers last month, after an LCPD affidavit claimed Padilla had assumed a “shooting stance,” which Driggers said was contradicted by the video footage.

“The footage clearly shows that at no point did Mr. Padilla raise the firearm, or point it at the officer, or even look in the officer’s direction before being shot,” Padilla’s attorney stated in a court filing.

The document states that Padilla was shot once in the back, hospitalized and transferred to the Doña Ana County Detention Center following surgery.

The initial charges were dismissed without prejudice, and then refiled via the grand jury indictment Tuesday. Padilla, who is no longer in custody, is scheduled for arraignment on May 19.