NMSP News: - This update identifies Antonio Trujillo as the suspect and contains additional details from the investigation
During the early morning hours of Feb. 17, officers with the Los Alamos Police Department (LAPD) were involved in a police shooting. The New Mexico State Police Investigations Bureau was asked to investigate this incident.
Preliminary investigation revealed that the LAPD has been investigating numerous burglaries at the Pajarito Cliffs Site (PCS) county buildings, at 1001 Camino Entrada, in Los Alamos.
LAPD officers were conducting surveillance outside these buildings due to the burglaries.
Around 3:30 a.m. Feb. 17, undercover officers observed a gray Jeep Patriot enter the parking lot near building #5. A male suspect, later identified as Antonio Trujillo, 30, dressed in black and holding bolt cutters exited the vehicle and approached the secured locked area. LAPD Officer Jemuel Montoya was dispatched to the scene to contact the suspect.
Ofc. Montoya arrived in a marked unit, parked a short distance in front of the Jeep, engaged his emergency equipment, exited his patrol unit and gave commands for Trujillo to stop. Trujillo did not comply and ran to the Jeep and began to flee the scene.
A second LAPD unit had arrived at this time and parked near the right side of Ofc. Montoya’s patrol unit, and Trujillo drove between the two marked LAPD patrol units toward Ofc. Montoya’s location. At that time, Ofc. Montoya fired four shots from his issued AR-15 rifle.
The Jeep fled from officers onto N.M. 502 and headed toward Espanola. LAPD Officers pursued the vehicle onto N.M. 30. The pursuit continued on N.M. 369 to US 84/285, and onto N.M. 76. The vehicle turned onto Corlett Road and crashed. Trujillo fled on foot into a wooded area and was not located by the officers at the scene. Trujillo was later arrested for an unrelated warrant.
The Jeep was later identified as a stolen vehicle out of Santa Fe, which had been reported to the Santa Fe Police Department. It was towed from the scene and was processed for evidence by the New Mexico State Police Crime Scene Team.
At this time there is no indication of any injuries received during this incident. One PCS building was struck by gunfire.
Ofc. Jemuel Montoya has 4.5 years of law enforcement experience, with 2.5 years with the Los Alamos Police Department.
The Santa Fe Police Department is handling the investigation of the stolen Jeep. The Los Alamos Police Department is handling the investigation related to the burglary of the PCS county building, and the subsequent pursuit. The New Mexico State Police is responsible for the investigation of the officer involved shooting and is cooperating with the LAPD and SFPD to assist with their investigations.
At the conclusion of the New Mexico State Police investigation, the case will be forwarded to an assigned district attorney’s office for review.
