BY MAIRE O’NEILL
maire@losalamosreporter.com

The Los Alamos Reporter has at last received the incident report from Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office (SFCSO) on the November 15 shooting of a Los Alamos man as he drove past Anderson Overlook headed to Los Alamos late at night.

The reporting officer’s narrative indicated that Los Alamos Police Department had asked for assistance related to a shooting on NM 502. Regional dispatch advised that the suspect’s vehicle was a white Mazda that might be traveling along NM 502 and that the victim was driving himself to the emergency room at Los Alamos Medical Center. Dispatch also advised that an LAPD officer at Anderson Overlook had located three casings from a weapon on the ground.

When SFCSO Deputy Jacob Deprez arrived at Anderson Overlook he was shown the casings on the ground at the north end of the parking area, which appeared to be 5.56 caliber. He also observed what appeared to be condensation on the ground from a vehicle that would have been parked in that area for an extended period of time. He advised the LAPD officer that there were more SFCSO officers on the way and he proceeded to LAMC.

When he got to LAMC, Deputy Deprez saw LAPD officers standing near a truck with a camper shell in the parking lot. He observed two bullet holes in the truck. One bullet hole was in the very low left corner to the back window of the camper shall and the other was in the lower right corner of the driver’s side rearview mirror.

Deputy Deprez entered LAMC and spoke to the victim who had his head wrapped in bandages. He said he observed a large amount of apparent blood on the back of the victim’s head and the pillow his head was resting on.

Deputy Deprez spoke to the victim who was alert and able to talk to him. The victim told Deputy Deprez that he was hunting in Reserve and was on his way back to Los Alamos. He said he remembered being at the Intersection of HWY 84/285 and NM 502 – stopped at the light waiting to turn west onto NM 502. The victim said he couldn’t remember whether the white Mazda was turning with him at the light or came from north to south on Hwy 84/285. He said both vehicles were traveling west on NM 502 and when they began reaching the hill near State Road 4 towards White Rock, he passed the Mazda because it was traveling slowly.

Deputy Deprez said the victim told him when he passed the vehicle, he got back into the lane the Mazda was in and the driver began shining its bright lights at the rear of the victim’s truck. He said as they were heading up the hill towards Los Alamos, the Mazda passed him and he observed what he thought may have been a male giving him some sort of unknown hand gesture. The victim said he wanted to see what the gesture was so he shone his bright lights at the Mazda. He said the Mazda sped off and he didn’t see it again until it was parked at the overlook area at Mile Marker 5.

The victim said the vehicle was parked there so he was continuing to drive past the overlook when he heard a loud pop. He said he thought the speakers had blown out in the truck because of its age but then he felt something wet running down the back of his neck. He felt the back of his head and neck with his hand, then looked at his hand and observed blood. He said he know he had been shot so he drove himself to the LAMC emergency room.

The victim said the vehicle did not move after he had been shot. It stayed at the overlook long enough for him to get out of sight and not see it anymore, he said. He did not see anyone standing outside the vehicle at the overlook and said the Mazda was the only vehicle parked in the area at the time of the shooting. The victim described the vehicle as a white four-door, possibly a 2013 model Mazda.

Deputy Deprez searched the victim’s vehicle. He observed that one bullet had struck the lower right side rearview mirror and the other went through the lower left corner of the rear camper shell window. The bullet that went through the rear camper shell window, through the rear window of the cab of the truck, through the head rest of the driver’s seat striking the victim in the back portion of his head. It appeared that the bullet that struck the victim, created a lot of debris and shrapnel traveling through multiple windows. The front window of the truck and two obvious chips from an object traveling at high velocity and the middle rearview mirror had multiple cracks from being hit with an object. The driver’s headrest had one entrance hole but two exit holes, one on the center right of the headrest and the other in the right portion of the headrest. The victim confirmed that none of those holes were there before the incident.

At this point, SFCSO is not releasing any further information on the case and no arrests have been made.