Video: Albuquerque officer shot at suspect 8 times
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- An Albuquerque police officer shot at a suspected carjacker eight times as the man backed away then turned and ran to escape, newly released police video shows.
The footage released Monday calls into question a previous police account of the incident contained in a criminal complaint. It says witnesses told police that suspect Joaquin Ortega threatened Officer Brian Pitzer with a handgun and was shot as he turned toward the officer.
Ortega is not seen holding a gun in the video taken by Pitzer's lapel camera. However, police said a handgun was found between two cars along the route where Ortega fled.
The video was released by the Albuquerque Police Department as it faces a U.S. Justice Department investigation over several high-profile abuse cases and three dozen shootings since 2010.
It was sought months ago by media outlets in public information requests concerning the wounding of the 34-year-old Ortega in the October 2013 chase...
...The shooting was Pitzer's third in six and a-half years with the department, authorities said.
The footage shows Pitzer arriving at a muffler shop after getting a report that a woman and her 7-year-old grandson had been robbed of $15 at gunpoint by a man who then tried to carjack a truck. The video shows Pitzer spotting Ortega, drawing his gun and yelling, "Let's see your hands now! Let's see your hands now, dude!"
As Pitzer approaches, Ortega is shown running between the two cars as Pitzer fires his weapon. Ortega keeps running and Pitzer shoots again. Ortega is seen stopping and falling on a sidewalk...
...Reporters requested the video after then-Interim Police Chief Allen Banks displayed a still image from the lapel camera that he said showed that Ortega turned toward the officer with a gun.
Banks had refused to release the footage and told reporters he wasn't going to try the case in the media.
The department recently hired a new police chief, former New Mexico Public Safety Secretary Gorden Eden, who has vowed to review the department's policies and leadership structure...
OK, here we go again. I don't see anything wrong here. To my anonymous commenters, let me set this up. The officer was responding to a report of an armed robbery. That alone puts the officer on edge. He gets there, the first thing Officer Pitzer does is get his weapon out, which is more than understandable. If the suspect has a gun, he can shoot first. But what do you hear though the beginning of the video. "Let's see your hands now! Let's see your hands now, dude!" All Ortega had to do is drop the gun, put his hands out and the officer could have taken him into custody without incident. Ortega decides to run and the officer has to make a decision in a fraction of a second.
There is no question Ortega was armed, at least at the beginning of the incident. In a matter of a couple of steps Pitzer has to decide if Ortega has a gun in his hand and if so, he has fear for his life or serious bodily injury.
You have just reached the legal justification of use of deadly force.
Now the Sacramento Bee putting in the red herring about a US Department of Justice investigation is laughable. The Holder Justice Department cannot be trusted to not sell weapons to Mexican drug cartels. Forgive me but they are not a reliable judge of proper police operations.
Officer Pitzer, good work. Hope this goes over quick.
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