Sheriff’s Office: Albuquerque inmate escapee kills himself in Manzano home

A Metropolitan Detention Center inmate who escaped custody in downtown Albuquerque Wednesday morning killed himself in a Manzano home Wednesday evening, the Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Department confirmed late Wednesday night.

The sheriff’s office issued a news release saying 48-year-old Larry Dohrn died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The release said Dohrn called deputies before they arrived and said he was going to kill himself. The homeowner could not confirm if Dohrn was dead, the sheriff’s office said, but once SWAT officers were able to enter the home, they found Dohrn dead.

The sheriff had previously been unclear about whether or not Dohrn was dead.

“Apparently he is in custody,” Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales said at an evening news conference. “So this is resolved; he is in custody. He is at that residence.”

Dohrn was en route to court from MDC when he managed to escape his shackles and kick out the back window of the transport bus while on 6th Street near the railroad tracks around 7:40 a.m.

MDC spokeswoman Nataura Powdrell-Moore says a MDC officer tried to catch Dohrn on foot, but was unsuccessful. He carjacked a vehicle between 6th and 7th streets and escaped. The driver of that car got away unharmed as well.

Bernalillo County deputies recovered the stolen vehicle in an alley near 14th and Lead around noon. Dohrm’s MDC-issued pants were also found in a dumpster nearby.

At 6 p.m., state police officers and deputies from Bernalillo County were involved in a SWAT situation involving Dohrn near Manzano, which is north of Mountainair.

At the 8 p.m. news conference, Sheriff Gonzales said Dohrn was in custody. Deputies were tipped off he may have fled to the area.

Dohrn was set to appear in court at 8:45 Wednesday morning on a long list of felony charges stemming from an arrest in early April, including two counts of receiving or transferring stolen vehicles, altering engine or VIN numbers, two counts of fraud over $2,500 and two counts of forgery.

He was also being held for several other felonies stemming from a March arrest, including three counts of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, bribery of a witness and criminal damage to property.

He pleaded guilty earlier this year to a stolen vehicle charge from March 2015.

Sheriff Gonzales said at the news conference he had also previously escaped jail in Oklahoma.