Watching a man carjack a woman as they were chasing him Friday, Albuquerque police opened fire, striking both the suspect and the victim.
It was all done in the name of safety.
Both the victim and suspect survived the shooting, ending up with bullet wounds to their legs.
At first, Albuquerque police acknowledged the victim was shot, but refused to admit they did it.
But today, police confirmed that they were the ones who shot the victim.
This was how it was reported Friday in the Albuquerque Journal:
They found him near the Mazda dealership on the west side of the freeway. Brandenburg ran and several officers gave chase to the parking lot of the New Mexico Regulation and Licensing Department.
“They caught up with the suspect and the suspect tried to carjack a victim that was trying to drive out of the parking lot,” Duran said. “Officers witnessed this, observed the threat to the driver and they took action that they needed to in order to stop that action.”
He didn’t know how many officers opened fire, but said there were several on scene at the time. Investigators are still trying to determine if Brandenburg had fired his gun and whose bullet struck the carjacking victim.
“We know officers fired, but we don’t know if the suspect did or not, or how many times,” Duran said.
And this is how it is being reported Monday in the Albuquerque Journal:
Officers unintentionally shot a carjacking victim as they were shooting the man trying to steal her SUV Friday, according to a spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department.
They were both struck in the leg and are recovering at the hospital.
Officer Simon Drobik said three officers opened fire, striking the suspect Lee Brandenburg, 41, multiple times in the leg.
The victim was struck once he said. They are both recovering at the hospital.
The carjacking suspect has been identified as Lee Brandenburg, 41, who has a history of burglary and assault arrests. The victim’s name has not been released.
In 2015, an Albuquerque police officer shot a fellow officer while trying to shoot a drug suspect. That video was released last year.
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