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*This story has been updated to reflect updates from APD on the teen’s age, name and warrant details.
On Thursday morning around 7:30 am, Albuquerque Police were alerted to shots fired in the area of Villa Hermosa apartment complex near Sequoia Rd. and Ladera Dr. NW. Officers arrived at the scene around 9 am and officers say they saw someone come out of an apartment with multiple firearms. An officer fired at the person, who Police Chief Harold Medina was a boy who was 16-years-old. He has since been identified as Jesus Lopez. Medina also said that he did not know if the boy had fired at officers or if he had even pointed a gun at officers. Lopez had an active bench warrant in Sandoval County for Aggravated Battery with a deadly weapon against a household member. He is currently undergoing surgery in the hospital.
“They had been making contact with an individual – and they were aware of an individual here – who had a felony arrest (warrant) for a violent crime out of a neighboring jurisdiction,” Medina said. “As officers were looking for the source of the shots being fired they located shell casings outside of an apartment complex which was also related to the individual with the felony warrant.” He said they did not know if the teen lived at the apartment complex.
Medina said several officers who were involved are being interviewed by the Multi-Agency Task Force which is made up of investigators from APD, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office and the New Mexico State Police. The officer who shot him was not identified.
Albuquerque Police have been involved in nine officer-involved shootings this year. Four of those have been fatal.