Officials detail first Albuquerque police shooting of the year

The Albuquerque Police Department says a man pointed a gun — which later turned out to be unloaded — at an officer before being fatally shot earlier this year.

On Friday, the officials released videos and gave a play-by-play of the Jan. 25 incident that ended when officer Tristen Garcia shot and killed 38-year-old Joseph Baca.

It was the first police shooting of 2024.

Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock, who oversees APD’s Criminal Investigations Division, said Garcia has been with the department since 2020. He said that, in June 2022, Garcia and another officer fatally shot Frank Baty, a man who was armed with a BB gun.

Hartsock said Garcia, who has been on standard administrative leave, is set to return to duty “within the next week or so.”

Baca’s family could not be reached Friday, but an online obituary said he was a father of two sons and “will always be remembered for his smile, laughter and humor.”

“Joseph my heart weighs heavy in sadness that you are gone. I will always remember the little boy I took care of and loved so dearly. Forever in my heart,” one of Baca’s aunts wrote on the obituary page.

The shooting happened after a late-night disturbance, during which Baca broke the windows of Love’s Travel Stop, on Sixth near Interstate 40, before pointing a gun at an employee and then at two passersby — eventually throwing the gun at both vehicles.

Each time, video showed, Baca picked the gun up again.

Hartsock said the gun Baca had was bought in New Mexico in 2021, but APD has not been able to reach the original buyer to find out how the .45 caliber ended up in Baca’s hands. He said, a few hours before Baca was killed, the same gun was fired several times in an area Baca was known to frequent.

“We believe Joseph likely shot the gun there, in front of his home, a few hours before coming to the (truck stop),” Hartsock said. “We don’t know why.”

Court records show that, prior to 2016, Baca had been arrested repeatedly on various property crimes. In the last several years, those more serious charges were replaced with arrests on low-level drug possession.

“It’s unfortunate that this incident ended the way it ended, that there was the loss of human life, but at the same time our officers have to be able to defend themselves,” APD Chief Harold Medina said. “... You’re going to truly see what the situation was for the officers and how this individual continuously was armed and endangered the public in a lot of different ways.”

Hartsock said around 2:30 a.m. Baca was with an acquaintance inside the Love’s when the men were asked to leave. He said they hadn’t bought anything, and the business had a policy against loitering.

Hartsock said Baca argued with security before breaking out windows, pulling out a gun and “put the barrel of the handgun to a female security guard’s head.”

In separate 911 calls played by APD, a security guard tells dispatch a man is “waving a gun around” outside and, in another 911 call, a frightened driver reports a man pointed a gun at him.

Hartsock said, by that point, Baca was outside pointing the gun at vehicles “in what appeared to be an attempted carjacking.” Security video showed Baca point the gun at a car, then throwing it at the car in frustration, when the driver evaded him.

Baca can be seen picking up the gun and pointing it at the driver of a semi-tractor trailer, who stops briefly before driving away. Baca throws the gun at the vehicle and goes to pick it up again, walking toward the truck stop.

Hartsock said Baca then confronted the truck stop security, who said Baca pointed the gun at them, and one of them shot at him, missing. Video showed the guard ducking around gas pumps before firing once at Baca.

Hartsock said officer Garcia told investigators when he arrived to the scene “he almost instantly heard a gunshot.” Hartsock said, “We believe that gunshot he heard was of the security guard firing.”

Hartsock said officer Garcia told investigators he fired after he saw Baca “take a shooting stance and start to raise the gun up towards himself and other officers.”

Video showed Baca hurling rocks toward police before running toward the I-40 underpass. Baca is seen going under the bridge, out of sight, before reemerging with the gun raised, pointed toward police.

In the video, which had no audio, Baca is seen falling to the ground. Officer Garcia’s lapel video, which does have audio, shows he was more than a hundred feet away from Baca when he fired twice, hitting Baca and a light pole.

As Garcia approaches, Baca can be heard moaning, and Garcia yells “don’t reach for that gun!” Officers converge around Baca, who is barely moving, and begin applying a chest seal to his gunshot wound.

In the distance, a dog can be heard barking.

Hartsock said Baca’s gun was unloaded and an empty magazine was found in his pocket.

He added, “We have no evidence that he fired it during any interaction at Love’s and, when we found it, it was unloaded, including the magazine in his pocket.”