Screenshot NM Cop Shoots Woman
Screengrab YouTube

A few months ago, I took the dogs out to pee at oh dark thirty as I often do. In the middle of wishing they’d hurry up and pee, I heard several gunshots in the distance. That might alarm somebody from a nice place, but in New Mexico, it’s almost completely normal. I figured the shots were around a half mile away, so I didn’t worry about it too much. But, in the following weeks, I learned a lot more about what happened.

Now, you will too. I’ll share a YouTube video I found analyzing the incident, add some context people online don’t know, and then get to what anybody carrying a gun for defense can learn from this incident.

In short, the video shows a police officer’s bodycam as he confronts a woman sitting in a car at a local public housing area for elderly disabled people. Throughout the incident, he stays ugly and nasty with everyone involved and makes a number of really questionable law enforcement decisions, like letting a guy who had something that looks like a gun out of his sight, not arresting a guy with a warrant and telling him that he’s going to put out another warrant (totally confusing).

Lacking any control over the scene, the woman gets back into the car, hits him with her car door while backing out, and then drives away. At this point, he draws his pistol and shoots into the car, with deadly consequences.

Before I get into the biggest problem, I do want to add some valuable context (which I’ve already shared with local police). The man in the car is part of a gang of homeless people who are in the habit of finding elderly disabled people to prey on. They often threaten them until they let them stay in their houses, and then use the houses to stash stolen goods. Another local non-homeless gang then comes regularly to trade the stolen goods for fentanyl.

One of the houses this gang operated from was a neighbor of mine, who requested my assistance dealing with them when the police refused to do anything about it. It took a lot of work and several times letting them see that people in the neighborhood were on the verge of shooting them before they left, but not before they started firing guns off randomly in the neighborhood to try to intimidate us. Let’s just say that this didn’t work out for them like they’d hoped.

As I’ve said before, New Mexico is a wild place and the drug problem isn’t helping. So, the cop likely knew that he was dealing with these people again, which probably explains why he was in such a foul mood right from the beginning. He also has been working in a stupid catch-and-release criminal justice system that should be putting these people away, but doesn’t.

At the same time, this isn’t a good excuse for losing emotional control and not controlling the scene. Police officers have to deal with stupid nonsense all the time, and should cultivate the ability to keep one’s emotions under control to keep a clear head and not make idiotic mistakes. Personally, I would have found a job out of state (Texas is just down the road) if I was the guy instead of trying to work in a system that doesn’t care about people who victimize the elderly. It’s no surprise that the city is now offering huge hiring incentives, because nobody wants to work an impossible job and then get charged with murder.

But, we aren’t all cops or former cops here. Let’s talk a bit about what the rest of us CCW people without badges can pick up from this situation!

Whether you’ve got a badge or not, it’s important to keep in mind that losing your cool causes some very bad things to happen inside your brain. As your heartrate increases and stress hormones like cortisol and adrenaline start getting into the bloodstream, higher brain functions shut down. That greatly increases the number of very dumb mistakes you’ll make at a time when you can’t afford to make mistakes.

If you ever find yourself cussing, swearing and freaking out during a bad situation, take some deep breaths as recommended in this video. It works wonders at lowering your heart rate and getting your brain working right again.

It’s also important to learn nonviolent dispute resolution techniques. Police can use the “Five Step Hard Style” to get voluntary compliance from uncooperative people instead of cussing them out and telling them they’re going to make life hard. The rest of us can use techniques like LEAPS (Listen, Empathize, Ask Questions, Paraphrase, Summarize). But, I could write a whole article about Verbal Judo and other dispute resolution techniques.

Instead, here’s a video for those who want to learn more:

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

65 COMMENTS

    • It’s gotten me out of a jam more than once. It has its place. You need to have *all* tools available for any situation.

    • Had to attend a Verbal Judo class about 1990. Might work with an angry housewife or accountant, but in the real world of druggies, really pissed off people and the like, it will distract you at the wrong time and get you hurt or worse. Guy who came up with it made millions, but that was the only benefit to anyone.

    • Since that doofus died from cancer about 15 years ago, it won’t matter what you tell him.

      I’ve read his book, listened to him speak, and I question some stuff. At the same time, there’s advice he gives that is sound, and some things I use all the time. But my life isn’t a John Wick movie 24/7, so what do I know?

  2. That’s all well and good, IF the other guy is willing to have a conversation, which often isn’t the case.

    • Just threatening a punk at a local gas station was enough for me. I was armed. And a menacing old guy. BTW back in 2019 on Halloween I heard several gunshots across the street. At war cold & snowing. My wife & son did too. I called the local 5-0 and the goofy guy&gal slowly arrived. They didn’t believe me (my AR was behind the door). Guess who’s never calling the po-leece again @buy a backhoe?!?

  3. New Mexico is a far right liberal cesspool. State Government could care less about curbing crime and its greatest concern is to disarm law abiding its citizens. Police in Albuquerque do not arrest robbers. If caught, they write them a ticket!

    • Quote: “Arch January 30, 2024 At 10:19
      New Mexico is a far right liberal cesspool”

      Far right? Far right does not compute with liberal cesspool.

      New Mexico government has been taken over by democrats (communist party USA), they are hardly “far right”

    • Arch said, “New Mexico is a far right liberal cesspool.”

      Which rock did you crawl out from under? Obviously, you haven’t read the news in decades. New Mexico is the same place that a liberal/left/progressive fascist governor tried to revoke the Second Amendment, only months ago. Did you pull your pants down over your head, so that you have to talk out your arse?

  4. Working with an angry, entitled, defensive and often intoxicated public for the past 20 years I’ve gotten pretty good at verbal diffusion. The problem is that it’s temporary and disingenuous. My goal is to get the irate buffoon out of my face and off the property. There is no resolution to be had.

    I’m listening but I don’t care. I’m pretending to empathize but there’s nothing I could do even if I wanted to. I ask questions, paraphrase and summarize to keep him talking as we move toward the door because if he’s talking he isn’t punching.

    Sooner or later the buffoon returns and we do it all over again.

    This is where I see current political discourse. One party is trying to get the other to go away. Period. Any “LEAPS” is just for show to get to the ends.

    So it just goes on until eventually one side does go away permanently by whatever means.

  5. Some people whose criminal intent and actions speak louder than words where bodily harm is involved you cannot engage in conversation, you do not attempt to play games, you shoot them. As for the f-bomb clown cop? Says more about the department who hired him.

  6. “One of the houses this gang operated from was a neighbor of mine, who requested my assistance dealing with them when the police refused to do anything about it.”

    So, local law enforcement refuses to arrest and remove violent home invaders?

    I wonder what local law enforcement would do to someone who stops paying the portion of their local taxes which pay for law enforcement since local law enforcement refuse to do their job? I have a sneaking suspicion that local law enforcement would land on that person like a ton of bricks since that impacts their budget.

    • “So, local law enforcement refuses to arrest and remove violent home invaders?”

      They weren’t technically-invaders, if one of them talked the home owner into letting them stay there…

      • Geoff PR,

        That all depends on your definition of “… talked the home owner into letting them.”

        Note that talking someone into something could be as simple as, “Let me stay in your home or I will torch it when you are inside.” Of course that is coercion and thus a felony–and arguably even forcible home invasion.

        That entire situation/concept highlights how good cannot win against true evil because good has constraints and true evil does not.

  7. Dont be where you’re not supposed to be. Hold court ONLY in court rooms. Don’t even hold court here on the internet (including leftist YouTube). Dont screw with the cops; resist if you want but be ready for the consequences for doing so. I’ve seen that some cops tend to chew folks out because they’re given an assignment, not supported when they function as they’re trained, then held accountable for not succeeding in an endeavor that has intentionally been made impossible to do (usually for lack of support from closet-politician/inseucre and paranoid supervisors). The commentator in this video is an absolute idiot and will be the first to scream and holler like a butt-hurt bltch if something, or somebody, victimizes him and he doesn’t think the cops acted hard enough. Clearly, the shooting was unnecessary and unlawful. It would’ve been better to nail these turds for criminal trespass and evading arrest and send them to prison for 1-2 years, IMHO. If those who wish to defund our law enforcement because they don’t coddle snowflakes like the snowflakes and other squareheads think they should then THOSE whiners should step-up and try the job. Chances are they wouldn’t last more than 2 pay-periods on the streets.

    • What if there weren’t no law enforcement and the little old lady who was bothered by the trespassers snuck up behind them with a shotgunm and blew their heads open then said ” Get off my lawn”.
      See, she could do that if there weren’t no law.

  8. Thanks for taking the time to write this (and every) article, Jennifer. I always read, but don’t always comment. And while I don’t always agree with what you post, I find your positions and solutions thought-provoking. Keep writing.

  10. Police body cams can be an awesome tool to getting rid of problem cops…

  11. The only thing that I agreed with this bike cop was that these two had no business in this parking lot at that time of night. And I know that some police like to raise their voice (yell) at people, but he should have called for backup in the very first place. He should have taken the car keys (she wouldn’t have been able to hit him) and then arrested the guy for the warrants. His attitude made the incident so much worse by yelling and swearing again and again. I didn’t think he could pull the driver out without leaving the passenger out of his sight/attention. But then hindsight is often more clear I admit. The cop has been charged with 2nd degree murder after the body cam was reviewed. Too bad all around

  13. Your NM Looney LuAnn is working diligently to get guns away from citizens so they don’t threaten her constituents just trying to do a little business.

  14. Wow. Stupid on top of stupid. First mistake, not calling for backup. Paintball gun? And he STILL didn’t call for backup? I’ve seen cops call for backup just to talk to little old ladies who were calm and respectful, he didn’t call for backup at any of several warning points?
    All the rest of the stupid just piles up on top of multiple failures to call for backup.

    I won’t mourn the death of a predator, but this cop needs to be punished.

  15. bad shoot. no threat after csr passed by the cop. bad cop had it coming. have a nice tie in prison

    • “Just leg@ lized drugs and all the crime will go away.”

      Possibly. However, my plan is sure-fire, guaranteed to work: Law is the root cause of crime; eliminate all law, and crime ceases, immediately.

      Not mention that with elimination of all law, we have the additional benefit of needing no legislative creatures to create new laws.

      “Law of the jungle” has not eradicated all “animal” life forms in the jungle; been effective for eons.

      • “Law is the root cause of crime; eliminate all law, and crime ceases, immediately. … Law of the jungle”

        If you “eliminate all law,” you’ll have to eliminate the Law of the Jungle.

        • “If you “eliminate all law,” you’ll have to eliminate the Law of the Jungle.”

          “Law” as commonly accepted, is codified, printed, published. “Jungle Law” is not published, but is a term used to idescribe natural instincts of the residents, and predicated on simple power alone. But, given human words, yes, law of the jungle would be subject to elimination.

          Cheers

      • “Law of the jungle” comes from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, and it is a shitload of very specific rules with reasoning behind them for its fictional followers.

        Meanwhile, back in reality, if you can convince a great white shark that a dude on a surfboard is not an elephant seal, I’ll join your crusade.

        • “Law of the jungle” comes from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, and it is a shitload of very specific rules with reasoning behind them for its fictional followers.”

          ‘fictional’ being the defining construct. Not to mention, a human is assigning human concepts to non-humans. “Law of the Jungle”, in actuality, combines natural instinct of non-humans, and demonstrated power. When translated into human constructs, “Law of the Jungle” is simply “survival of the fittest”, which is also a human instinct…and similarly animated.

          Transgressing published law is called “crime”, and without a law to transgress, there is no crime to experience/punish. Ipso Facto, no?

          Raw power is the purest form of logic: I can, therefore I do.

        • You are taking a phrase that was invented for one reason (the original law of the jungle was nothing but a bunch of laws) and turning it into something that has never existed in reality, nor can’t.

          Animals do not reason. They follow a law of nature and their nature changes slowly over thousands of millennia, if at all. It is the nature of a squirrel to find nuts and avoid predators. It is the nature of a shark to attack marine life (or things that look like marine life because they’re that stupid.)

          Survival of the fittest doesn’t come from reason. Survival of the fittest isn’t even what Darwin came up with. Someone else read his book and decided – aha, I like “survival of the fittest” better. Forget whether you believe Darwin was correct, the phrase “survival of the fittest” is a bastardized meaning of what Darwin wrote about. And it’s not something anyone subscribes to with any seriousness.

          If human beings suddenly erase all laws, first of all, that is a decision made in the brain. It is not a law of human nature. Unlike animals, it is in our nature to, among other things, reason.

          And if you truly get rid of all laws, does that really get rid of *all* crime? No. How does one enforce the concept of there being no law? Because at that point it is essentially a law that there must be no laws. And it must be enforced, with force backed up by reason, or else people will band to get away from this lunacy because people understand that their brains often come in handy.

        • @Palo I’ll tell you if you want to check back this evening. I recently posted a list of trigger words and phrases that aren’t so obvious. I replied to someone complaining about moderation. Then, within a day or two, that same person was seen again complaining about moderation. It turns out he used a word/phrase that I told him was on the list.

          I assume he didn’t notice that list posted directly below his comment complaining about moderation, despite the fact that he came back onto that same page later for another comment. I find it weird to complain while making zero effort to deal with the problem. Don’t make the same mistake twice, if you can help it.

        • The comment was finally moderated.

          The culprit:
          “someone e-l-s-e”

          Yes, really. You can use them on their own, but not together (without permission) because reasons.

    • OR – we could put drug-addicted vagrants in mandatory shelters and violent drug-addicts in prison.

      Tolerance and appeasement don’t work. If you want to be a legal user the rest of your life better be in order. I’m ok with consenting adults doing whatever they want on their own property so long as they aren’t infringing on the rights of others.

      Vagrancy and crime should not be tolerated or permitted in public.

      • “Vagrancy… should not be tolerated or permitted in public“

        Sorry, the Supreme Court has already ruled that we can be vagrants if we wish.

        As the great opossum philosopher Pogo said, “Everybody gotta be someplace”.

  17. Not always the solution but the Netherlands (Holland) gives drug users free, highly supervised methadone. It cuts down the need for them to steal. In the word of one ex heroin offender it’s made it “boring”.

    Doesn’t always work and “highly supervised” is the bit most legalise drug people miss.

    They still jail you for theft etc. Similar results in Portugal where burglaries and property theft went down 90%.

    No incentive for dealers when there is no money to make.

    Left wing reformers in USA and Australia only seem to want the legalise drugs part without any consequences. The successful programs use both carrot and stick.

    • “Left wing… only seem to want the legalise drugs part without any consequences“

      I’d say we’ve had significant consequences for drug use here in America for almost 100 years and it did nothing but create wonderful profit making opportunities for organized crime.

      • And Washington State has found out that the illicit Mary Jane trade is still going strong even after ‘legalizing’ pot…

  18. Ugh, whenever a cop tells me to do something I do it.
    No use getting shuted over Rights you think you have because this is America and Rights don’t count when you got a mad cop, mad , not angry, pointing a gunm at you.
    Just do what they say.
    Be polite.
    Stay mello.
    It works out better that way.

    • “Ugh, whenever a cop tells me to do something I do it.”

      The time to make an issue about it is *after*…

  20. Is this bike officer by himself? This type of encounter requires backup, perhaps that’s why he failed to execute the arrest warrant?

    if you’re not physically and mentally capable with dealing with the call/car stop/encounter than don’t do it. If the employing agency/government can’t or won’t back you up then don’t put yourself in a situation .

  22. @Palo Duro
    “why on earth is my comment in moderation?”

    Rather curious we get no explanations, isn’t it?

      • “Im fairly convinced its part lottery system. Part keywords, part lottery”

        Yet neither TTAG, nor WordPress can figure out how to block/dismantle comments using member name “http:…”, foreign language member names using non-English characters.

  23. @ Palo Duro
    “Because at that point it is essentially a law that there must be no laws. And it must be enforced, with force backed up by reason,..”

    Not so. If enforcing “no law” is required, the justification is “power”, or maybe even simple emotion, petulance. People may band together to somehow isolate themselves from anarchy, but another group may band together to terminate those trying to avoid anarchy.

    In all seriousness, the only “rights” you truly have are those you can personally and successfully defend. Regardless of one’s “right” to whatever, greater power/force can terminate that right, as in preventing you from exercising your “right” to whatever.

    It seems silly to assert that one has a “right”, when in the only world we know (existence), a person can be denied exercise of a right. In our existence, academic arguments are talking points, not justification (or power) to accomplish/protect something.

    “Yet if it had not been for the law, I would not have known sin. For I would not have known what it is to covet if the law had not said, “You shall not covet.” ”
    – Law is the root cause of crime (Pls do not take any of this too seriously)

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