ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – It was a packed house at Monday night’s Albuquerque City Council meeting with community members still outraged over the fatal police shooting of a man handcuffed in the back of a cop car.
“Three days after my son was killed, instead of being at home grieving, I stood in front of the city council with my wife Bernadette and my daughter-in-law Bianca demanding answers.
We were there looking for even a shred of accountability, and now over a month later, we are still waiting,” said Fred Garcia, Matthew “Solo” Garcia’s father.
Over 20 people spoke out demanding the full unedited police body camera footage in the October 18 death of Garcia. The incident took place outside of the now-closed Tewa Lodge off Central Ave. and Alvarado Dr. The Albuquerque Police Department was there conducting a code-enforcement clean-up. Garcia gave a false name which resulted in police handcuffing him and placing him in a police car for nearly an hour before they searched him.
Garcia told the officers that he had a gun and that’s when a struggle ensued. Police shot Garcia ten times.
Some community members criticized Albuquerque Police Department Chief Harold Medina’s recent press conference where he defended the officers. “I want you to watch that press conference so that you know how our chief speaks about the people that live here. Listen to the language that is used when they talk about the cops versus the potential suspects,” said a speaker at the meeting.
APD Spokesperson Gilbert Gallegos sent this statement:
We held two news conferences releasing preliminary details of the shooting, which is what we do for every officer-involved shooting.
If you are reporting on comments made by people at the City Council meeting, I recommend you also point out that Garcia was convicted felon armed with a handgun who threatened to kill officers. He also had more than 300 rounds of ammunition in the motel room, which would have added to charges of a convicted felon in possession of a handgun. He lied several times about his identity, in addition to concealing his criminal history.
The Multi-Agency Task Force investigation is on-going. The results will be turned over to the District Attorney’s Office which assigns a special prosecutor to review officer-involved shootings.
In addition, APD conducts its own internal investigation of all officer-involved shootings to determine whether officers complied with department policies.
Finally, APD is one of the most heavily scrutinized police agencies in nation and is in the final stage of a decade-long settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice related to Constitutional policing.
