Police: New Mexico deputy kills fleeing colleague

photo Investigators gather in the parking lot of Hotel Encanto de Las Cruces on Oct. 28, 2014, in Las Cruces, N.M., where authorities say a Santa Fe County Sheriff Deputy shot and killed a fellow deputy at the hotel.

LAS CRUCES, N.M. - A northern New Mexico sheriff's deputy accused of killing a fellow deputy fired several rounds from his semi-automatic weapon as his colleague tried to flee an alcohol-fueled argument at a hotel, police said Tuesday.

The shooting happened just after midnight at Hotel Encanto in the southern New Mexico city of Las Cruces, where the two Santa Fe County deputies had stopped to spend the night after transporting a prisoner to Safford, Arizona.

Jeremy Martin, 29, was pronounced dead at MountainView Regional Medical Center, and detectives were interviewing the other deputy, Tai Chan, 27.

Chan's attorney, John Day, said details were limited.

"It's a tragic situation for everybody involved," the Santa Fe lawyer said.

Investigators with the Las Cruces Police Department were at the Hotel Encanto's parking lot collecting evidence that appeared to be from a deputy's vehicle. Hotel security staff prevented reporters from approaching the scene and ordered media off the property.

Investigators say the two deputies went to Dublin's Street Pub where they drank and got into an argument, which escalated at the hotel.

As Martin tried to flee into an elevator, several rounds were fired that hit him in the back and arms, authorities said.

Police arrived at the hotel and found Martin staggering off the elevator with multiple wounds, Las Cruces police spokesman Dan Trujillo said.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia said his department was mourning.

"I have grief counselors or crisis counselors here now meeting with a lot of my personnel, but it's a grieving law enforcement agency," Garcia said.

He said Martin had been a deputy for 2 1/2 years, and Chan was on the force for three years.

Martin, a patrol officer, was married and had three children, all under the age of 10, the sheriff's office said.

At an emotional news conference, Garcia called both deputies "hardworking, committed individuals."

"I'm lost," Garcia said. "I'm at a loss for words."

Martin's widow Sarah told the Albuquerque Journal in a brief telephone interview that the sheriff came to her home early Tuesday to deliver news of the death.

"He was a self-sacrificing kind of a person and put everyone else first," she said of her husband. "He was very well-balanced as far as family and career. He had a big heart and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt."

Upcoming Events