Police detail fatal shooting of man holding BB gun on West Side

Albuquerque police released videos and gave a play-by-play account of an officer fatally shooting a man wielding what turned out to be a BB gun last month on the West Side.

Albuquerque Police Department Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock, who oversees APD’s Criminal Investigations Bureau, said officer Zachary Herbst fatally shot Dale Meador on June 20 after a vehicle chase and standoff in a mesa alongside Interstate 40 and 98th.

Drone video shows that Meador, 42, was holding a woman in front of him, a gun to her side, and pushing her into a truck when Herbst fired five times. Meador was struck by multiple bullets and died at the scene.

One officer later told investigators it appeared Meador was using the woman, who had been with him during the entire incident, “as a shield in a kidnapping situation,” according to APD. Two officers fired less-lethal foam rounds at Meador, but it “did not appear to affect him.”

“Officer Herbst later told investigators he saw Meador holding the female against her will while armed with a handgun. He decided to shoot his rifle to stop Meador’s actions,” APD officials said in a news release.

The gun Meador was holding turned out to be a BB gun, and police found multiple BB guns in one of the vehicles Meador and the woman were in.

Meador and the woman also had a dog, seen in Meador’s lap in lapel video, once they switched vehicles during the chase. Hartsock said the dog was roaming the mesa in the aftermath of the shooting. He said the dog was eventually picked up by relatives or animal control.

Hartsock said Herbst has since returned to duty. Herbst has been with APD since 2014 and was involved in one other shooting, in 2023, when he fatally shot Emmanuel Campos after Campos shot APD officer John Holler.

Court records show Meador has faced charges of auto theft and drug possession since 2021. He was sentenced in May to serve more than a year behind bars after pleading guilty to auto theft.

Having already spent the better part of a year behind bars awaiting trial and being awarded “good time,” Meador was released to probation immediately, according to court records. By June 10, he had violated probation by not checking in with a probation officer.

“Meador has not reported to probation/parole post intake and has absconded,” a probation officer wrote in a violation report. “His current whereabouts and contact information are unknown.”

Ten days later, Hartsock said, officers were patrolling the dirt lots around I-40 and 98th when they noticed a truck near an encampment. He said the truck’s license plate came back as stolen and officers followed the vehicle.

Hartsock said officers tried to pull over the truck, and the driver, later identified as Meador, fled in it. He said police tried to use spike strips on the truck multiple times before Meador and the woman switched to another vehicle — which had a dog inside — in a West Side parking lot.

Lapel video showed officers surround the truck and open the doors, telling Meador, holding the dog, and the woman to “get out of the car.” Meador puts the truck in reverse and almost clips an officer with the open passenger door.

Lapel video showed Meador escaping the parking lot in the newly stolen truck and officers trying to deflate the tires with spike strips. Meador crashed into a traffic light and pulled into a dirt lot beside I-40 and 98th, where he and the woman ran into a nearby tunnel.

APD officials said a lengthy standoff ensued, with a crisis negotiator communicating with Meador, who told police he had a gun. Drone video shows Meador and the woman eventually walking to the mouth of the tunnel.

In the video, the pair can be seen looking around and at the hovering drone while talking, but no audio is heard. Meador then puts his arm around the woman, putting a BB gun to her side and walking her to the disabled truck.

As Meador pushes the woman into the truck, he is hit by two less-lethal rounds and is soon struck by real bullets, falling to the ground, the drone video shows.

Officers’ lapel video showed police telling Meador to let the woman go and that they didn’t want to shoot him. At one point, an officer tells another, “If you have a shot, take it” and clarifies, seconds later, “With a (less-lethal). With a (less lethal).”

Soon after, Herbst fires several rounds from his rifle.