Ledes from the Land of Enchantment

Video details Las Cruces police killing of 75-year-old woman

LAS CRUCES – The Las Cruces Police Department and the City of Las Cruces released a six-minute video Friday evening that sheds new light on a police killing that left a 75-year-old woman dead.

Amelia Baca was shot and killed by a police officer at her home on the 800 block of Fir Street on April 16. Baca’s grandson, Bryan Gutierrez, said earlier this week that Baca lived with dementia and was experiencing a mental health crisis at the time of the shooting. Information released by police Friday supports that statement.

The video produced by LCPD and the City of Las Cruces includes a voiceover reading text on the screen, audio from a 911 call Baca’s daughter made to police, as well as video and still photos from the responding officer’s body camera. The name of the responding officer has not been released.

The still photos show the officer pointing his gun at Baca as she stands at the entryway of her home with large kitchen knives in each hand. Text from the video notes that the officer gave repeated commands to Baca to drop the knives and that she didn’t comply with those orders and moved toward the officer.

Gutierrez told the Sun-News that Baca was shot twice at close range. She died on scene.

The Sun-News requested the full 911 audio and body camera footage earlier this week, but those requests have not been fulfilled.

The city has been tight-lipped with information about the shooting since it happened. The first news release about the incident came 41 hours after the shooting and didn’t include the woman’s name or age. Attempts by media to gather information throughout the week have been met with responses from the city spokespersons that no information would be released until an investigation was completed.

Video includes 911 calls, body cam photos

A voiceover at the beginning of the video tells viewers that no conclusion about the legality of the shooting has been made and that the investigation is ongoing.

The video then sets the stage for a 911 call to dispatchers. The caller, Baca’s daughter, tells the dispatcher that she’d like emergency personnel to come to assist her.

“I really need an officer or an ambulance or someone because my mother is getting really aggressive,” the caller says. “I’m hiding in a room because she’s threatening to kill me.”

The daughter tells the dispatcher that there is a child in the house and that her mother is hitting the floor. The daughter asks if an officer will be coming to which the dispatcher says one is on the way.

In this image released by the Las Cruces Police Department, an officer's body camera shows him pointing a gun at Amelia Baca, who stands inside her home on Fir Avenue on April 16, 2022. LCPD circled two large kitchen knives that Baca is holding in her right hands.

The video then returns to the voiceover which says that the first officer arrived at the home at 6:44 pm The voiceover then says that the officer is met by two women who he asks to step outside of the home. The voiceover then says that the two women tell the officer that Baca is inside and that the woman asked the officer to be careful with her.

The video then shows several stills from the officer’s body camera showing him interacting with Baca, who is holding knives standing inside her house. The city did not release body cam video of the officer’s interaction with Baca.

The produced video then returns to the voiceover and says that the officer who killed Baca has been on the force for nine years. The voiceover said that the officer has 70 hours of crisis intervention training.

What’s next?

The Doña Ana County Officer-Involved Incident Task Force made up of the New Mexico State Police, the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office, the New Mexico State University Police Department, and the Las Cruces Police Department are investigating the incident and the results of their investigation will be turned over to the 3rd Judicial District Attorney’s Office.

The shooting has generated attention from civil rights advocates, including the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico, which is calling for an investigation into why the city’s crisis intervention team was not at the scene.

“If this team had been deployed to de-escalate the situation, (Baca) may still be alive today and receiving the help she needed,” said Barron Jones, a senior policy strategist with the ACLU.

It’s not clear whether LCPD plans to address further questions about the shooting.

Baca’s family has told the Sun news they are in talks with an attorney.

Justin Garcia is a public safety reporter for the Las Cruces Sun-News. He can be reached at JE [email protected].

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