APD review: Suspects shot at by police have wielded guns
Jun. 21—Albuquerque police officer Kevin Gonzales pulled up to a man sitting on a curb at Mesilla and Central with a bicycle and a plastic baggie of fentanyl pills in plain view. The otherwise routine stop rocketed into a potentially deadly encounter as the suspect, Joey White, ran, and Gonzales got into his patrol car in pursuit.
Gonzales went on a loudspeaker and ordered the suspect to stop, saying, "I will tackle you or tase you," according to video from his body camera released Friday. Then he got out of his car and continued to pursue White.
In seconds, the Albuquerque Police Department's seventh officer-involved shooting this year occurred. Gonzales said he saw White point a gun at him, so he fired. In this case, the only damage was to some parked cars nearby. No officers were injured, and neither was the suspect.
White was ultimately coaxed down from a rooftop and arrested when other officers arrived on the scene. A 9mm handgun police believe is linked to the suspect was recovered under an abandoned washing machine, APD Cmdr. Kyle Hartsock said at a news conference Friday.
The details of the May 16 shooting underscored the dangers APD officers, especially those in proactive units like Gonzales', face in dealing with suspects who are increasingly armed with guns, said Police Chief Harold Medina.
APD also released a six-month review of seven officer-involved shootings for the second half of 2023 Friday that show all seven involved people with guns, and two of those shot at police.
"A lot of those involved foot pursuits," Medina said. So the department is working on a policy to deal with the potential threats caused by a fleeing suspect and the potential threats of engaging in a foot pursuit.
Two of the seven shootings began as minor offenses. Two were initiated as property crimes, and three related to violent offenses, the review found. None began as behavioral health calls. All three people fatally shot had drugs in their bodies at the time of their deaths.
A working group of APD deputy chiefs, one APD major, a legal adviser and an external contractor who specializes in the use of force reviewed the shootings in an attempt to identify patterns and trends.
One of the seven cases was deemed to be out of compliance with APD policy, but 38% of the officers involved had less than six years of experience; 35% had between six and eight years of experience; and 21% had more than six years.
"Officer-involved shootings will be reduced when the number of criminals who are armed in the community is reduced," Medina said.
Gonzales, who had no prior officer involved shootings, was assigned to the Southeast Proactive Response Team, conducting patrol. Such teams are a way to stop crimes as they happen or before, but by being more proactive, those officers are "more likely" to run into habitual offenders who don't want to go to jail and will use weapons to keep from doing so, Medina said.
On Thursday, another proactive response team assigned to the southwest area of the city came upon a suspicious car that was stolen, gave chase, and after a pursuit that ended in a standoff, a man identified as Dale Meador, 42, was shot and killed by a SWAT officer. Meador, police said, was holding a handgun to the stomach of a woman who was with him, spurring the officer to shoot.
That shooting is still under investigation by the APD, as is the May 16 incident in which APD found bullets fired by Gonzales hit several unoccupied cars.
Detectives have since learned that White is a convicted felon. He was charged after the shooting with receiving stolen property, felon in possession of a firearm, aggravated assault on a peace officer with a deadly weapon and distribution or possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Hartsock said White later told someone in a recorded jail conversation that he had a handgun at the time. The suspect also said, "If I would have had a faster bike, I would have been able to get away."
