Man killed at Las Cruces Chili's pursued officer with a hammer

LAS CRUCES — Before he was shot and killed in front of a crowded restaurant on Oct. 9, police video shows Philip Mullin, 50, striding silently toward a Las Cruces police officer with a claw hammer in his hand.

The officer, recording the encounter with his lapel camera, backs away from the man and repeatedly instructs Mullin to stop approaching him and put up his hands. Without a word, Mullin — wearing a flannel shirt over a T-shirt and a cap — keeps walking toward the officer, closing the distance while holding the hammer down by his right side. After covering a reported distance of 60 feet across the parking lot, the unidentified police officer fires three shots at close range, each round apparently hitting Mullin in the chest.

The scene unfolded at Chili’s Grill and Bar, in the 400 block of S. Telshor Boulevard, during dinner rush, when the bar and dining room were busy.

On Tuesday, Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Story presented new details in a continuing investigation into what happened.

Story reported that on Thursday morning, Mullin was seen at a local gun shop shopping for a handgun, asking for the “cheapest” weapon available but left without making a purchase. Surveillance footage from the store shows Mullin wearing glasses, a beanie-style cap and a flannel shirt.

Five and a half hours later, at about 4:15 p.m., emergency dispatch received a call that a man was vandalizing vehicles in his neighborhood with what was described as a machete or large knife. By the time police arrived on the scene, the man had left and neighbors of Mullin said he had damaged two cars. Photographs presented by LCPD showed two cars with holes gouged into front and rear windshields and a side window.

At 6:03 p.m., dispatchers began receiving frantic calls from Chili’s reporting an aggressive man in the bar area holding a hammer and a knife as he confronted patrons.

One caller who seemed to be an employee said he had been told to leave, sat in his car parked in front of the restaurant and then returned during the phone call.

“He’s come in every single day for the past five days,” the employee tells the dispatcher. The caller said Mullin had struck at least one person. Story later reported that two people he said were threatened by Mullin were uninjured.

“An argument escalates between him and some other patrons who had asked if he was OK,” Story told reporters. “They saw some blood, likely from the vehicle damage and the glass. He begins yelling at those patrons. That argument ends, he goes to his vehicle, retrieves the hammer and the machete or the knife, goes back inside the restaurant and the altercation continues, where at least two people were victims of an aggravated assault.”

The first officer, per footage from his camera, spots Mullin sitting inside his car and orders him to step out. As Mullin does so, the video shows him pick up the hammer and begin striding toward the officer, who raises his handgun and says, “Put your hands up.”

In total, the officer instructs Mullin to raise his hands or says “don’t come any closer” eight times before firing. After Mullin sinks to the ground and other officers arrive, police begin to render medical aid. Mullin was later pronounced dead at the scene.

From the moment the officer first speaks to Mullin to when the latter falls to the ground, 34 seconds pass.

The officer was placed on standard administrative leave as a multi-agency officer-involved shooting task force gathers information and presents it to the District Attorney’s Office.

“As a general rule, an officer is not going to use a less-lethal tool for a lethal encounter when they are by themselves,” Story said. “If there had been multiple officers there might have been different options, but there were not.”

As for Mullin, the chief said LCPD had had encounters with Mullin previously over minor disturbances or welfare checks, but had never been arrested. “He does have a history of some mental illness,” Story said, without delving further into his medical history.

Story said the investigation was still underway and did not estimate when it would conclude. The restaurant has resumed operations.