By Matthew Reisen
Albuquerque Journal, N.M.
ALBUQUERQUE — An FBI agent was wounded and a man was killed during a shootout Wednesday morning in Northeast Albuquerque.
FBI spokesman Frank Fisher said the agent, whose bullet proof vest was struck by gunfire, is expected to survive and the man was pronounced dead on scene.
Fisher did not identify the agent or man killed and would not say whether any other suspects were detained or involved.
“Because this is an ongoing investigation, there are very few details I can provide at this time,” Fisher said. “Like all FBI shootings, this one will be thoroughly investigated.”
He said FBI agents and task force officers were serving multiple search warrants around 11 a.m. at a strip mall near Northeastern and Wyoming when the incident occurred.
Fisher would not say if the warrants — which were related to a violent crime investigation — were being served at a business or elsewhere.
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He said when agents tried to make an arrest, a gunfight ensued with a suspect in the alleyway behind the strip mall.
“I will say, unfortunately, we do have experience with these sort of shootings. They seem to be happening more often lately,” Fisher said. “We wish they didn’t but we are developing an expertise and the public can rest assured we will leave no stone unturned.”
Numerous FBI agents and Bernalillo County Sheriff’s deputies in tactical vest could be seen crowding the parking lot and streets around the a strip mall south of Walmart.
Authorities were most concentrated behind the strip mall where crime scene tape blocked the alleyway and State Police and BCSO mobile crime labs idled as investigators walked the scene.
Irma Herrera, a nearby neighbor, said she was watching TV when she heard several loud pops.
“I thought what the heck was that,” she said. “They sounded like really big guns.”
Herrera said she heard authorities yelling “get down” over and over.
When she went outside, she said she saw authorities with long rifles in the alleyway behind the cash store.
Herrera said ambulances and firefighters arrived shortly after but then left.
“I didn’t see them pull anybody out,” she said.
(c)2021 the Albuquerque Journal (Albuquerque, N.M.)
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