Police identify deceased drive-thru stabbing suspect in officer involved shooting

Albuquerque police have identified the suspect who was fatally shot by officers last week after he stabbed a man at a Northeast Albuquerque fast-food restaurant and ran armed with a knife toward two other people.

Jeramiah Salyards, 25, of Roswell, died “as a result of several gunshot wounds” following an autopsy by the Office of the Medical Examiner, the Albuquerque Police Department said in a news release late Monday.

Officers also shot two bystanders during the incident that occurred just before midnight Thursday, one of whom remains in the hospital.

The fatal shooting followed a response to a stabbing at a McDonald’s drive-thru near Lomas and San Pedro NE around 9:30 p.m.

The victim told officers Salyards stabbed him following an altercation inside his vehicle, according to the release. Police said the victim, identified as a man, was stabbed in his neck and was critically wounded. He is still receiving care at an area hospital.

APD Deputy Chief Mike Smathers said in a media update last week that officers responded to the stabbing around 11:45 p.m. when a bystander told authorities a man was “waving his knife around” at Lomas and Louisiana NE.

Smathers said officers went to the area and spotted Salyards, who crossed a street to a bus stop.

That’s when officers approached the suspect as he tried to stab two bystanders, Smathers said. Police then opened fire, killing Salyards and leaving the two bystanders injured.

Lengthy criminal history

Salyards had a lengthy criminal history before his death last week, court records show, which ranged from the unlawful taking of a motor vehicle to felony drug offenses.

Salyards served time in prison recently — and was released in the last year — following a 2020 stabbing of a city bus driver at the West Side Transit Center.

Police said the driver noticed Salyards “using a knife on the lock of the transit center’s bathroom” before being attacked.

“When the driver told Salyards he needed to leave, Salyards attacked him with the knife, stabbing him several times,” police said.