疯客直播 Fe police shot and critically wounded a man Wednesday night in the parking lot of the Denny鈥檚 restaurant on Cerrillos Road, alleging he had aimed a handgun at two officers just before other officers at the scene fired on him.
Jesus Rafael Contreras, 41, faces two counts of aggravated assault on a police officer, according to a criminal complaint filed Thursday morning in 疯客直播 Fe County Magistrate Court.
An arrest warrant affidavit says police were dispatched to the area after 9:30 p.m. after Contreras made several 911 calls, telling dispatchers he was armed and suicidal. Officers found him sitting in the Denny鈥檚 parking lot in a white Chevy Blazer. At one point, he got out of the vehicle and pointed a revolver at police, the affidavit alleges.
Several officers then fired at him, police wrote in the affidavit, and he fell to the pavement, wounded.
Contreras was taken to Christus St. Vincent Regional Medical Center for treatment. He was in 鈥渟table, but critical condition鈥 after the incident and was still being treated at the hospital Thursday, 疯客直播 Fe police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez wrote in an email.
New Mexico State Police investigated the shooting until late Thursday afternoon 鈥 more than 18 hours after it occurred 鈥 leaving the restaurant鈥檚 parking lot taped off and a block of Cerrillos Road closed to traffic. Several people reported police helicopters had been flying above the scene Thursday morning.
The area was finally cleared and the roadway opened shortly after 4 p.m.
State police spokesperson Ray Wilson said there was 鈥渘o specific reason鈥 investigators were still at the scene Thursday afternoon, writing in an email police shooting scenes 鈥渁re complex, and it takes time to identify and collect all the evidence.鈥
鈥淚nvestigators often have to wait until daylight to canvass and properly document scenes,鈥 Wilson added.
No one aside from Contreras was injured during the incident, Wilson wrote, adding the number of officers who fired at him was still under investigation.
Neither 疯客直播 Fe police nor state police identified the officers who fired their weapons. State police said in a news release the agency 鈥渄oes not identify officers from other agencies.鈥
It鈥檚 unclear where Contreras lives in the city or how long he has been in 疯客直播 Fe. His address is listed in court documents as 2801 Cerrillos Road, the location of the Interfaith Community Shelter at Pete鈥檚 Place.
People who receive services at the homeless shelter often use the address to apply for identification cards and to receive correspondence for government benefit programs, Pete鈥檚 Place Executive Director Karina Lopez said. While Contreras had received services at the shelter in the past, she said, he was not a current client.
Denny鈥檚 and the surrounding area, just down Cerrillos Road from the shelter, has been the site of other violent incidents in recent months, including a stabbing in March and an armed robbery in April.
Contreras has not faced any prior charges in New Mexico accusing him of violent crimes, according to online court records. However, in February 2023, he was charged with two felony counts of drug possession. 疯客直播 Fe police alleged in a criminal complaint he was found with fentanyl and methamphetamines after he was suspected of 鈥渨aving a knife around鈥 near paramedics who had been dispatched to help him.
Prosecutors dismissed the charges after Contreras failed to appear for several court hearings, court records indicate.
According to the arrest warrant affidavit filed Thursday, officers had searched for Contreras at a nearby Smith鈥檚 grocery store and Allsup鈥檚 gas station while dispatchers had him on a phone line. Dispatchers heard what they believed was a gunshot on the call as well as 鈥渓abored breathing,鈥 police wrote in the affidavit.
Contreras told dispatchers he was parked in the Denny鈥檚 parking lot and that he had 鈥渁 revolver with six bullets in his hand,鈥 the affidavit states.
疯客直播 Fe police Officer Mitchell Torres arrived at the scene at 9:35 p.m., followed shortly after by Officer Cesar Granados-Lujan. They remained 鈥渁t a distance鈥 from the Blazer, the affidavit says, as Torres 鈥渦nholstered his weapon鈥 and used a PA system to 鈥渁ttempt to deescalate [Contreras].鈥
Contreras 鈥渨ould yell back鈥 at Torres, 鈥渂ut the Chevy Blazer鈥檚 window was only cracked,鈥 police wrote, and Torres 鈥渃ould not make out what he was yelling.鈥
Other officers also arrived at parking lot.
A door to the Blazer opened around 9:40 p.m., the affidavit says, and Contreras stepped out of the vehicle at at 9:46 p.m. He was 鈥渉iding his right hand,鈥 police wrote. Two minutes later, officers allege in the affidavit, he raised a revolver in his right hand and aimed at Torres and Granada-Lujan, 鈥渃ocking the hammer back鈥 and 鈥渞eadying it to fire.鈥
That鈥檚 when several other officers fired, the affidavit states.
The city鈥檚 Alternative Response Unit, a team of unarmed personnel called to some public safety incidents involving mental health crises, was not dispatched to scene, according to Valdez.
鈥淭his type of call would not be a call where ARU would be a primary response due to the initial information provided: suicidal individual, armed and dispatch possibly hearing the sound of gunfire,鈥 Valdez wrote in the email. 鈥淟aw enforcement would be dispatched first.鈥
