Las Cruces man threatens to shoot mom, leads to officer-involved shooting
By: El Paso, TX - Body camera footage was released of an officer-involved shooting of a man who previously called 911 dispatch and threatened to shoot his mother if police didn’t show up to his residence this past Sunday, July 27, in Las Cruces.
Dominic Martinez was charged with aggravated assault upon a peace officer, assault against a household member, and resisting, evading, or obstructing an officer after pointing a gun at an officer this past Sunday, after the shooting at the 1900 block of Embassy Drive.
Las Cruces Police Chief Jeremy Stormy gave an update on the shooting during a press conference on Thursday morning, July 31, saying that just before 4 p.m. this past Sunday, Martinez called 911 and stated that he had gotten into an argument with his mother and told dispatch that if police didn’t show up, he was going to shoot her.
Martinez also told dispatch that he had a gun and that the argument with his mother was likely going to escalate into a physical altercation. He refused to answer any further questions and ended the call.
Police then responded to the 1900 block of Embassy Drive and arrived at an apartment complex and saw a man and Martinez’s mother inside one of the apartments.
Body-worn camera footage showed an officer asking the man where Martinez was, to which the man said that Martinez was in his room. The man then asked Martinez to come out, and the officer took cover behind an SUV located right in front of the apartment.
Martinez then exited the apartment with a gun in his hand and pointed the gun at the officer, according to the footage.
Body cam footage showed Martinez moved towards the officer, and the officer discharged his service weapon four times.
Martinez then leaned against a white car that was also located in front of the apartment, and the officer ordered Martinez to drop the gun, according to the footage.
Martinez then dropped the gun and lied on his side with the gun near his feet, according to the footage.
Story said that the gun Martinez had was later confirmed to be a BB gun.
Martinez was taken into custody, and officers discovered that he was not struck by gunfire.
As officers were confirming that Martinez was not hurt, he then began thrashing and pulling away and told officers that he wanted them to kill him, Story said.
Later on, Martinez admitted to coming out of the apartment with the gun because he wanted the officer to kill him, Story said.
Martinez also said that once he was in custody, he began to resist officers to try to escalate the situation so that officers would hurt him, Story said.
Martinez has had a history of six suicide attempts and ten Class III Referrals as a juvenile, which mostly consisted of battery or assault charges.
Story said Martinez was also a suspect in an aggravated assault with a knife this month. However, the victim refused to pursue charges.