Police in New Mexico released footage from body cameras on Thursday, showing the tense but swift pursuit and eventual sh*oting de@th of a gunman who had been indiscriminately f!ring at homes and automobiles earlier in the week.
At least three people were m*rdered and six others injured, including two police officers, after an 18-year-old opened fire in a neighborhood approximately a quarter of a mile long in Farmington, according to police.
Police responded to a “hot call,” as seen in footage released Thursday by the Farmington Police Department’s body cameras, Chief Steve Hebbe told reporters. “It is as I described, a very chaotic scene,” Hebbe said. “It’s emotional to watch it honestly, and I’ve seen it a bunch of times now and talked about it even more. It’s still emotional to watch it.”
One body camera shows an officer equipped with a firearm heading down the street in pursuit of a person who, according to the officer, was last seen wearing all black and carrying an automatic we@pon. He suddenly took off! The cop can be heard shouting, “White house, directly south of the church!” on the video. More gunfire can be heard.
As police sirens wail in the background, the officer continues by indicating he is accompanied by a sergeant and two detectives before radioing for backup. “Get back inside, people!” the officer yells. When he sees them, he swiftly demands, “Let me see your hands!” The film begins to play as gunfire begins.
After a brief gun battle (about 10 seconds), the officer declares, “Subject is down!” Dropped the mic! End the fighting! Get out of here! Video shows officers cuffing the shooter and reporting that another officer, later identified as Sgt. Rachel Discenza, is also injured.
The body camera footage from Discenza was also released by the police. Video shows her collapsing as she and the police move toward the sound of gunfire. “Ugh, I’m shot,” she groans out in pain. She tries to stand up, but she fumbles and falls again. “My legs I think,” she tells the police officer when he inquires as to where she was struck.
She can be heard on the video being told by a police officer to “just breathe” as he helps her. A second cop arrives and says, “OK, I’m here, all right, I got you.” According to Hebbe, a New Mexico State police officer who was sh*t while responding drove himself to the hospital.
Both officers were taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where they received care and have since been released. According to Hebbe, Discenza is doing fine at home. A representative for San Juan Regional Medical Center claimed that four other victims of the incident were treated and later discharged.
If you want to understand more about this topic, I recommend the following links:
- De@dly New Mexico Gunman Unleashes Over 100 Rounds, Leaves Shocking Note After Killing 3 Innocent Victims!
- The 18-year-old Farmington, New Mexico Gunman Who K!lled 3 and Injured 6 Used Three F!rearms
Three ladies were slain in the sh*oting, identified by police as Shirley Voita, Melody Ivie, and Gwendolyn Schofield. After Voita was sh*t and left the vehicle unattended, police released footage from a Ring surveillance camera showing the vehicle rolling down the street with the driver’s side door open, as reported by Hebbe.
A second Ring camera caught Ivie and her daughter, Schofield, drive down the road toward the suspect’s residence in a blue van when “another just hail of gunfire opens up,” Hebbe said. several film shows several vehicles approaching the scene, turning around, and racing away as gunfire erupts.
Beau Wilson, a senior at Farmington High School, has been named as the suspect. Hebbe claimed he opened fire with an AR-15 in front of his home, k!lling all three women inside before police arrived. “It sounds like you’re watching Afghanistan or Iraq, you’re watching sort of a combat,” Hebbe said.
Hebbe claims that Wilson, who was armed with two handguns and wearing body armor, dumped the AR-15 at his house.“Ultimately he loses the 22-caliber handgun, he takes off and discards the body armor that he’s wearing,” Hebbe said. “He stands and makes the last fight with the 9 mm when our officers are closing in at that stage.”
On Tuesday, police stated that at least 150 bullets were f!red during the encounter between the gunman and responding officers. Hebbe has stated that he had reason to think Wilson was trying “suicide by cop.” He pointed out that Wilson yells “Come kill me” in one of the Ring films, and that he doesn’t try to escape when he has the chance.
The following tweet provides confirmation of the news:
Body camera footage released by police in New Mexico shows a tense but quick pursuit of a gunman who was randomly firing at homes and cars in a residential neighborhood before being shot dead by responding officers. https://t.co/ZEabZ6V0KR
— ABC News (@ABC) May 19, 2023
Hebbe concluded that the man had “decided ultimately in his head” that he would fight to the de@th. The chief praised the cops, saying they displayed “a lot of bravery” in their swift response to the situation. The incident reportedly began at 10:56 a.m. local time, when the sh*oter opened fire, and ended at 11:06 a.m. when he was k!lled by police.
On Thursday, about six and a half minutes of footage was made available to the public. After the police have provided their testimony, Hebbe said all the raw material will be made public. Hebbe had “so many emotions” when watching the clip, and he called the police officers’ efforts and resolve “awe-inspiring.”
Hebbe also lauded the efforts of other bystanders who “did a great job, some at personal risk” by blocking traffic, assisting injured people, and alerting police to the direction the suspect had fled. “There’s a lot to be proud of if you’re a Farmington resident,” Hebbe said. “And there’s a lot to be grieving right now.”
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