Albuquerque –
At around 10:00 AM, a man was walking around Lomas and Hotel Ave. in NE Albuquerque with a handgun. Witnesses reported that the man was randomly firing rounds into the air and then pointing the gun at his own head. They said he fired his gun at three different locations, including near the Owl Cafe on Eubank Blvd NE.
Restaurant patrons and others were sheltered in place as this incident unfolded. Around 10:30 AM, the Albuquerque Police arrived on the scene and located the man with the gun. However, just before officers arrived, a single shot rang out behind the Days Inn motel near the Owl Cafe. Officers rushed to the area and found that the man had committed suicide.
Witnesses told us that it appeared the man was on some sort of narcotics and was acting very strange prior to the shootings.
The Albuquerque Police Department has shut down the area around Hotel Ave. as they investigate the shooting, any possible victims, damage to property from bullet impacts, and the man’s apparent suicide. While we were on scene, it did not appear as though the man’s indiscriminate firing of his weapon injured any bystanders.
It took 30 minutes for the police to arrive?
We at APD believe that you need to wait for our services arrive. We work for you, don’t forget that.
Can you identify the man? Is it Vince Ortega?
Well, that’s an absolutely ridiculous response. Here’s the problem, folks.
Can anyone confirm or deny if the man’s name is Vince Ortega?
You hate to see this. Hard to go anywhere around town anymore without seeing behavior you would not have seen years ago. Personally, I would like the State to build a few facilities for treatment of the mentally challenged….. and certainly not label them “Mental Hospital”. No one wants to seem to take the lead on trying to get people the help that they need IN REAL TERMS. Without help, we will only continue to see scenes like this, today, play out- not only around the State, but around the Country. But if you want to put New Mexico on the map as doing something positive, lets start with building some facilities where these folks can be helped, and off the streets, where they are a danger to others as well as themselves.
you mean WHEN you show up. Which in many cases is NEVER.