Bernalillo County deputies shoot person during federal operation in International District

Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies shot and injured a person Wednesday afternoon while helping federal authorities conduct a crime-fighting operation in Albuquerque’s International District.

BCSO spokesperson Jayme Gonzales said the person was taken to a hospital in critical condition. She said another person was detained and no deputies were injured.

Gonzales and Sheriff John Allen, who also spoke during a news conference outside the scene, did not release any additional details. They did not say how many deputies opened fire, if the person was armed and what prompted deputies to shoot.

Allen said the deputies who fired their weapons, one of whom was assisting the FBI and U.S. Marshals, would be placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by the Multi-Agency Task Force.

Gonzales said deputies were working a crime-fighting operation around 4:45 p.m. when they pulled over a vehicle. She did not say why deputies pulled the vehicle over.

One person was detained from the vehicle and another ran, Gonzales said.

“Some sort of altercation ensued at that point and shots were fired,” she said.

Allen said BCSO would not be releasing more details because deputies were working with federal authorities at the time, saying they were conducting Operation Triple Beam.

The operation began last week and was set to be announced publicly next week, he said. The operation will replace Operation Route 66, which has been active since the summer.

Allen said that he was “not happy” about the results of Operation Route 66 and said that the statistics showed a staggering number of apprehensions and releases, meaning that arrests did not result in serious jail time.

He added that BCSO, the Albuquerque Police Department, New Mexico State Police and federal authorities would “take it upon ourselves with our partners... to make sure that the most serious of criminals are finally held accountable.”

During the news conference, Allen said that Wednesday night was “another testament to the failures we’re seeing here in Bernalillo County.”

Allen said, without elaborating, that he was “pretty close to sure” that the suspects involved in Wednesday’s shooting were repeat violent offenders.