Albuquerque Body Cam shows a cop shooting and killing Rodrigo Garcia as 10 cops shoot 50 times

Last summer, 10 officers shot at a man fleeing from them in a truck after the officers thought the suspect had run into their lieutenant, who was actually knocked down by a fence, according to police video and reports released Friday. There hasn’t been another Albuquerque police shooting in recent memory in which that many officers fired their weapons, said Celina Espinoza, a police spokeswoman. The department is currently putting in place a list of reforms, brought on by Department of Justice investigation, that aim to curb the number of police shootings, including those at moving vehicles.

Rodrigo Garcia, the 20-year-old suspect, was hit seven times, including once in the head. He had part of his brain removed in the aftermath of the shooting, according to court documents. Espinoza said the department has no plans to pursue charges against Garcia because of the severity of his injuries. Joe Kennedy, an Albuquerque attorney representing Garcia and his family, couldn’t be reached for comment on Friday. But he previously said in an interview with the Journal that he plans to file a lawsuit in connection to the shooting that alleges civil rights violations.

Garcia was wanted in connection to vehicle theft, felon in possession of a firearm and drug charges. Police reports indicate that he drove a vehicle into a marked police car the day before the shooting and eluded officers. The next afternoon, May 29, police cornered Garcia in a yard in southwest Albuquerque near 62nd and GonzalesInvestigative reports and video released Friday show that as more than 10 officers surrounded Garcia, he reversed the truck into a tree, and then drove forward and crashed into both a chain link fence and a marked police car.

As he struck the fence, Albuquerque police Lt. Michelle Campbell was knocked over by the structure as it fell and she discharged her firearm once. According to police reports, officers on scene told investigators they thought Campbell had been run over. There was a volley of gunfire as Garcia drove away. He then stopped the Tahoe and put it in reverse and as it moved toward police, there was another volley of police gunfire. Criminalistics reports stated that 48 bullets and bullet fragments were found in the Tahoe. There was no firearm in the truck. Garcia was shot seven times. He had gunshot wounds to his head, shoulder, both hands, ear and right leg, according to police reports.

Police previously said that 10 officers opened fire: Campbell and Southwest Area Command field services bureau officers Andrew Wickline, Dain Symes, Victor Bustillos, Toby Gallegos, Justice Bowe, Christopher Keeling and Matthew Murphy and auto theft detectives Raymond Marquez and Armando Hernandez. After the shooting, a SWAT standoff ensued while Garcia was still in the vehicle. Eventually, SWAT officers threw a flash bang grenade at him and then swarmed the Tahoe and removed him from it. He was taken to University of New Mexico hospital, where doctors told police that although he survived, the injuries would severely affect his quality of life, according to the reports.

The Albuquerque Police Department officers have been criticized for shooting at moving vehicles, including in the DOJ investigation. The new use-of-force policy, which wasn’t in effect at the time of the shooting, prohibits officers from putting themselves in front of a moving vehicle and instead orders them to find cover. Only if an officer is in imminent danger and has no reasonable alternative can he or she shoot at a vehicle.