A police officer in Hatch, New Mexico, was shot and killed Friday, leading to a massive manhunt that eventually ended with three suspects in custody, CBS affiliate KRQE reported.
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A different officer, who was also responding to the traffic stop, watched as the suspects took off, KRQE reported. They are being questioned by the sheriff’s department though DASO did confirm at least one appears to have not been directly involved in the shooting.
“Tonight, Officer Chavez is an officer of every department; we all feel the tremendous loss for his family and for our community”, Doña Ana Sheriff’s Department spokeswoman Kelly Jameson said in a statement. At the time of the stop, Hanes had one front-seat passenger, described as a white male, and another passenger in the rear of the vehicle, described as a black male.
A fellow officer who arrived to assist just as Chavez was shot reported seeing him with paperwork and appearing to draw his service weapon before smoke filled the air and Chavez fell to the ground. He was a two-year veteran of the Hatch Police Department and a 2013 graduate of the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Department Cadet Law Enforcement Academy.
Hanes’ two passengers also were arrested. The officer then alerted dispatch to an ‘officer down’.
An additional Hatch police officer, also en route to the traffic stop, initiated a pursuit of the Lexus.
Carjacking has been a prevalent crime in the media since the mid-1980s since initially the crime aimed trucks with high valuable loads and the suspect would abduct the vehicle only to steal the load rather than the auto itself. The victim was taken to a hospital in El Paso where his condition is unknown.
She said sheriff’s deputies spotted Hanes in the stolen vehicle on Saturday and pursued, slowing it down by deflating the tires.
FBI investigators were in Las Cruces on Saturday helping to process evidence, Sheriff Enrique “Kiki” Vigil said.
One of the suspects suffered a gunshot wound to the right thigh, investigators added. This driver seemed to be the owner of the Chevrolet Cruze vehicle that was carjacked.
The officer, who had been with the Dona Ana County Sheriff’s Department for two years, died Friday after being airlifted to a hospital in El Paso, Texas.
A source told NBC affiliate KSTM that 36-year-old James D. Nelson and 38-year-old Jesse Hanes are suspected of killing the Hatch, New Mexico police officer.
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