Gubernatorial candidate helped drive-by shooting victim in Albuquerque

Doug Turner was planning to hit the gym after taking his dogs on a walk this week near Tingley Beach before a burst of violence upended his evening plans.

Turner, who is running for governor, was enjoying the warm weather on Wednesday when he saw a man on a scooter exchange words with occupants of a passing car.

Moments later, he heard a “pop” and turned to see the individual on the scooter heading back toward him. The man said he’d been shot, and Turner called 911 after seeing blood starting to pool in his sweatshirt.

“It was pretty shocking,” Turner said in a Friday interview. “I’ve been going there for a long time, and I’ve never seen anything like that.” 

Turner said he helped assess the man’s wound, which he described as non-life-threatening, and waited for emergency responders to show up.

He credited Albuquerque Police Department officers and paramedics for their rapid response to the shooting, though an APD spokesman said Friday no arrests have been made in the case.

While Turner said he tried to remain calm in the incident’s aftermath, he said it demonstrated the need to address public safety issues in New Mexico.

New Mexico has seen its crime rates decrease in recent years, but the prevalence of homicides and aggravated assaults in the state was more than twice the national average as of 2024, according to FBI data. The state also has one of the nation's highest rates of firearm-involved deaths.

Turner expressed specific concern about violent repeat offenders being released from jail after state voters in 2016 approved a constitutional amendment overhauling New Mexico’s cash bail system.

“It validates a lot of what I, and many other candidates, have been saying,” he told the Journal. 

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham has also expressed frustration about crime-related issues, while accusing judges of failing to keep New Mexicans safe under discretionary sentencing decisions.

But the Democratic-controlled Legislature has rejected proposals to make it easier to hold defendants accused of certain violent crimes behind bars until trial. In addition, studies conducted by researchers at the University of New Mexico have found 82% of people on pretrial release do not commit new crimes.

A small business owner who also ran for governor in 2010, Turner is one of four Republicans running in an open contest this year to succeed Lujan Grisham, who is barred under the state Constitution from seeking a third consecutive term. 

He finished in second place in last weekend’s state GOP pre-primary convention in Ruidoso, qualifying for the June 2 primary ballot in the process. 

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.