Police Shoot Jesus Because They Thought He Had A Knife Which Turned Out To Be Nail Clippers

The Albuquerque Police Department shared more information Friday about what led to a police shooting on Nov. 10.

Early in the morning, APD officers were chasing 41-year-old Jesus Crosby.

“The sergeant was familiar with Mr. Crosby for prior encounters at the Prisoner Transport Center,” said APD Deputy Commander Kyle Hartsock. “The first incident was in September and Mr. Crosby was issued an order to no longer trespass on the property.”

Lapel video from the shooting shows officers trying to reason with Crosby, asking him to put what they thought was a knife down, but Crosby takes off, and police follow him.

Eventually, he can be seen on lapel video taking what APD said was an “aggressive stance” – still holding what they thought was a knife.

The knife was later identified as nail clippers, with the sharp file folded out.

Members of the Crisis Intervention Team had tried several times to get Crosby treatment in the past, but it was unsuccessful, according to police.

“This case highlights the difficulty of interacting with people who are unhoused and people who have mental illness and the problems that the system has for these individuals,” said APD Commander Matt Dietzel, with the department’s Crisis Intervention Team. “I hope that these events and similar events encourage all of us to work harder with our unhoused to avoid these kinds of tragedies.”

Officers asked Crosby several times to drop the nail clippers, but he wouldn’t, according to APD.

Then moments later, several shots were fired, killing Crosby.

Chief Medina said at least one officer used a taser.

“There were different officers, and they were nearly at the same time they were used, at least one used a Taser,” he said.