APD releases more details on officer involved shooting

Posted at: 07/24/2014 6:02 PM
By: Erica Zucco, KOB Eyewitness News 4

Albuquerque police have released new details surrounding an officer involved shooting on July 22.

Officers fired at and killed 33-year-old Jeremy Robertson Tuesday in the midst of an attempt to arrest him near a gas station on Eubank near Central. Police say they did so after Robertson pulled a gun out of his waistband and ran with it.

APD officers were helping the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which was after Robertson as a convicted felon for alleged possession of a firearm. Investigators said Wednesday they were questioning a second person but hadn't said yet how that person was involved.

Police said Thursday, the second person was an acquaintance, in a van with Robertson just before his confrontation with police. The man said when he realized Robertson was in trouble, he tried to get out of the van but Robertson threatened him with a gun.

Surveillance video shows the man getting out of the van anyway. After that, Robertson gets out of the van, sees two detectives, and recognizes them as APD undercover officers. Robertson ran away, and the detectives chased and tried to shoot him with a Taser. Robertson ran across the street, and surveillance video plays SWAT officers telling him to drop his gun. APD says they're still trying to get lapel video uploaded and enhanced for release.

"It's not true that they weren't wearing lapel cameras - it's unclear to me at this time if they activated their cameras prior to shots being fired because as we showed you on the video, how quickly it unfolded when they arrived on scene,  that's still under investigation at this time," Deputy Chief of Field Services William Roseman said.

Officers released photos of the gun they say Robertson pulled from his waistband lying on the ground next to where he fell when they shot him. One of the officers who shot Robertson has shot a suspect once before; the other has shot suspects twice before.

According to a dispatch report, an officer that shot at Robertson's tires during a previous encounter in January was on this call but didn't shoot him. The deputy chief says if he was indeed there, it was just a coincidence.