Suspect in deadly southwest Albuquerque carjacking shot and killed by law enforcement

The suspect in a carjacking murder that happened Wednesday night in southwest Albuquerque was shot and killed in a gun battle with police officers and sheriff’s deputies early Thursday morning.

The suspect was killed near Unser and Central after a pursuit that ended in an exchange of gunfire. The intersection reopened Thursday afternoon after being closed for more than 12 hours.

Deputies were dispatched to a shooting and carjacking at the Auto Zone in the 3200 block of Coors SW just before 7:30 p.m. Wednesday and found a man dead.

The man was identified Santiago Romero-Amaya, 64. He worked for years at Wood Moulding Specialties, Inc. and was a father and grandfather.

The suspect killed by police has yet to be identified, but was described after the carjacking murder as a small-framed, Hispanic man in his early 20s.

The suspect took Romero-Amaya’s car – a red Jeep Patriot – and fled the scene of the carjacking.

Deputies and police came upon him in the car early Thursday morning and pursued him as he fled.

At one point, a spike strip was successfully deployed, though Bernalillo County Sheriff Manny Gonzales said at a 2:30 a.m. news conference the suspect continued to drive.

Eventually, near Victory, a PIT maneuver was performed on the suspect’s vehicle. He stopped and exchanged gunfire with Albuquerque police officers and Bernalillo County sheriff’s deputies.

The stolen car the man was driving caught fire, and he was removed from the car, Sheriff Gonzales said. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

An APD officer was shot in the chest during the shooting, but was hit in his bulletproof vest and sustained only bruising. The officer was taken to a local hospital and treated.

Sheriff Gonzales said BCSD is the lead on the incident but APD is involved as well. Officers and deputies had yet to be interviewed as of Thursday morning.

A captain with the sheriff’s department advised against anyone trying to fight for their car in the event of a carjacking.

“It absolutely could happen to anybody and my advice to the general public is if somebody wants your car, just give it to them. It is not worth your life,” said Cpt. Andi Taylor. “That’s not to say cowards like this won’t just shoot you anyway. But if you have the opportunity to give up the car, give up the car.”