LAS VEGAS, N.M. (AP) - New Mexico State Police officers fatally shot a Las Vegas city employee outside his home when he pointed a rifle at them, the State Police said.
The shooting occurred Thursday when officers went to a Las Vegas-area home to check on 48-year-old Arcenio Lujan who reportedly was suicidal, according to a State Police statement.
The statement said Lujan was carrying a rifle when he went in and out of the home several times as officers tried to talk him into cooperating with them.
The officers shot Lujan when he walked out of his fenced yard and pointed the rifle at police “while aggressively approaching them,” the statement said.
Two officers are on administrative leave as a result of the shooting, which is standard in shootings involving officers. Their identities were not released.
The shooting was the second State Police shooting in less than a week.
On Saturday, three State Police officers shot and wounded a Los Lunas man after they said he fired dozens of rounds inside his home during a five-hour standoff that started as a domestic dispute.
Shootings by New Mexico law enforcement agencies have drawn attention recently, particularly in Albuquerque where the U.S. Justice Department recently issued a report that said the city Police Department used force excessively.
Lujan was a Las Vegas city employee, State Police Chief Pete Kassetas said during a news conference at the home. It’s unclear what his role with the city was.
Kassetas said officers pleaded with Lujan to not hurt himself or anyone else but that they had no choice but to shoot him because he pointed the rifle at them.
“We didn’t want to see it result in this,” the chief said.
Kassetas said the incident began with a call to police about an individual who was suicidal. He said he did not know who made the call.
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