Las Cruces police release video of fatal police shooting

Over several minutes, Las Cruces police officer Felipe Hernandez is visibly frustrated with 45-year-old Teresa Gomez — cursing frequently and threatening to make her life “a living hell.” She asks the officer to “be nice” and not talk to her in that way.

Hernandez, who was on a bicycle, had stopped Gomez and a passenger in her car for trespassing at a public housing unit. They told him they were visiting a friend.

In the last minute, Gomez reversed, and Hernandez, having backed away from the car, fired at Gomez as she drove away slowly. Gomez can be heard screaming as the car rolls to a stop, its driver’s side door hanging open.

Interim Police Chief Jeremy Story of the Las Cruces Police Department released video of the Oct. 3 fatal shooting during a news conference on Tuesday.

He said the investigation into the shooting is ongoing and, two weeks later, Hernandez had not been interviewed and is on paid administrative leave.

“This video is difficult to watch,” Story said after showing the lapel video. “I played it from the beginning to give the best picture possible.”

Story said he wished he could have a news conference for “every heroic, compassionate or selfless act” his officers do, day in and day out.

“Those officers are also human and they make mistakes, including me,” he said.

When asked about policies regarding shooting at someone who is driving away, Story said, “there are certainly circumstances where an officer could shoot at someone who is fleeing and it would be entirely justified.”

Story would not identify Hernandez as the officer during the news conference, but attorney Shannon Kennedy, who is representing Gomez’s family, identified him as Hernandez.

Story said Hernandez had been with LCPD for eight years and had used force on people in the past but not deadly force.

Kennedy, in a statement, said Hernandez was conducting an “unlawful trespassing investigation” when Gomez was killed.

“Gomez had committed no crime and was a threat to no one as she slowly drove away from a verbally abusive officer,” she said.

Through Kennedy, Gomez’s family released a statement saying Gomez, a mother and grandmother, “brought so much life into the world; her family members gathered yesterday to bury her and are all at a loss at her life being snuffed out.”

“The tragedy of her unnecessary violent death at the hands of a poorly trained police officer will cause suffering to her loved ones for the remainder of their lives,” the statement said. “She will never again hold her grandchildren. She will never again celebrate another high school or college graduation. She will never again laugh with her sisters or share a Christmas or Thanksgiving with her father and mother.”

The shooting happened the same day that Attorney General Raúl Torrez charged another LCPD officer, Brad Lunsford, 38, in the 2022 shooting of Presley Eze, 36.

Lunsford shot Eze in the back of the head as he and another officer wrestled with Eze, who had grabbed the other officer’s Taser. That incident began when a gas station employee called 911 to report that Eze had stolen a beer.

Torrez’s office has offered to review Gomez’s killing for possible prosecution, but the Doña Ana County District Attorney’s Office declined the offer.

“We must end the callous indifference to life that pays no consideration to the human connections of family that we all have,” Kennedy, the attorney for Gomez’s family, said in a statement Tuesday.

“Teresa’s family urges the City of Las Cruces to immediately change the culture of indifference to life with improved screening of officers, improved training and supervision that places the preservation of life at the pinnacle of concerns.”

The lapel video showed officer Hernandez pulled his bike up to Gomez’s car around 4:40 a.m. She told him she was looking for her keys as the Temptations played on the car stereo.

Hernandez saw a paintball gun in the waistband of the passenger, Jesus Garcia, and he threatened to pull Gomez from the car. She demanded to see his superior and told Hernandez not to touch her.

The two argued over the next several minutes as Gomez insisted she had done nothing wrong. In that time, Hernandez pointed a Taser at her and threatened to tow her car.

“I know this area. I know cars that are supposed to (expletive) be here and cars that aren’t supposed to be here,” he told Gomez at one point. “... let’s not make this (expletive) difficult because I will really make your life a living hell.”

Gomez apologized repeatedly and asked him to be nice and not speak to her that way. Hernandez allowed her to sit in the car as he ran her and Garcia’s information.

Without warning, Gomez started the car and reversed as Hernandez held the door. He stepped away from the car and fired three times, yelling “stop” as Gomez drove away.

Once the car stopped, Hernandez ran up and told Gomez, who was motionless, “get out, get out.” Garcia told him, “This is (expletive) up ... Sir, we weren’t doing nothing.”

“She almost hit me with the car,” Hernandez responded. The man replied, “In the beginning, I’m saying.”

“Stay with me,” Hernandez told Gomez repeatedly while arguing with Garcia about why he shot her. Gomez slumped over as Al Green’s “I’m So Tired of Being Alone” began playing on the radio.

At no point was Hernandez seen trying to save her life.