Aug. 31—A man was found fatally shot in his vehicle Thursday after a lengthy standoff ended in a gunfight with police at a Alamogordo strip mall.
Officer Wilson Silver, a New Mexico State Police spokesman, said 41-year-old Wallace Gonzales was pronounced dead at the scene from an apparent gunshot wound.
Silver said Gonzales had “a firearm in each hand” when he was found. He said a Las Cruces SWAT officer fired “at least one round” at Gonzales, and no officers were injured.
Silver said around 7:30 p.m. a State Police officer pulled over Gonzales on U.S. 54 south of Tularosa and noticed “multiple firearms on the dashboard.”
“Gonzales then made threatening statements that he was going to shoot the officer,” he said. “Gonzales fled from the traffic stop and a pursuit ensued.”
Silver said the pursuit ended when Gonzales pulled into the White Sands Mall parking lot in Alamogordo. He said State Police and Las Cruces officers spoke with Gonzales for three hours “in an attempt to deescalate the situation and have him exit the truck peacefully.”
Silver said Gonzales refused to obey officers’ commands, and at one point “gunfire was exchanged” between Gonzales and a SWAT officer.
“As officers approached the truck, Gonzales was found unresponsive with an apparent gunshot wound. He also had a firearm in each hand,” he said.
Gonzales died at the scene.
Silver said State Police continue to investigate the incident.
“The New Mexico State Police acts solely as a fact finder in officer involved shootings and does not determine whether an officer’s actions were justified,” he said. “That decision rests with the district attorney’s office.”
