Las Cruces police: Officer shoots armed man at apartment complex

A Las Cruces police officer shot a man who allegedly threatened the officer with a gun outside an apartment on Monday night.

Danny Garcia De Leon, 50, of Las Cruces, later told police he had a pistol, “but it was only a toy,” according to a court document.

De Leon is charged with aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and attempting to commit aggravated assault upon a peace officer with a deadly weapon. He is being held at the Doña Ana County Detention Center. It is unclear if he has an attorney.

City of Las Cruces spokesperson Mandy Guss told the Journal the shooting is under investigation and more information will be available at a news conference later in the week.

According to a Las Cruces Police Department social media post, at about 10:30 p.m. Monday, police responded to a call about a man with a gun yelling outside an apartment complex in the 1300 block of South Espina Street.

A statement of probable cause filed in Doña Ana County Magistrate Court said De Leon had been walking his dog when he threatened a neighbor. The neighbor told police De Leon continued to yell at him and pointed something at him that he believed to be a bow and arrow, per the statement.

The neighbor told police he “felt as though he was immediately going to receive physical harm” and that De Leon had threatened “to cause harm or violence toward him over the past two years.”

When police arrived at De Leon’s apartment, De Leon pointed a silver gun at an officer, who hid behind a dumpster, according to the statement. De Leon then went into his apartment and shut the door.

Police said when he opened his door again, police gave him verbal commands not to reach for a gun that was in his waistband.

“Shortly after this, (the officer) perceives a threat by De Leon and what he believes is a firearm in De Leon’s possession,” then shot De Leon in an undisclosed area of his body. De Leon was taken to a hospital, then released and arrested.