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Cop shot while on 911 domestic violence call

Albuquerque Journal - 7/14/2017

Before Maximilano Villegas opened fire on officers Wednesday night, police say, shooting and injuring one of them his girlfriend called 911 to say he had pushed her around and was threatening to kill himself.

A spokesman for the Albuquerque Police Department said the officer was taken to a hospital and is expected to be OK. He did not identify the officer but said he is a veteran of the department.

According to a criminal complaint filed in Metropolitan Court, Villegas’ girlfriend said the incident started when she told him she wanted to break up. She said Villegas, 38, grabbed her arm, dragged her into the bedroom, threw her onto the bed and held her down.

So she called police.

By the time police arrived at the woman’s house in the 3900 block of General Bradley, near Montgomery and Wyoming NE, she and her two older children were outside. But she told police her 9-year-old was still inside with Villegas.

“Officers went to the door of the home and spoke with the boyfriend, who told the officers he was sending out the child,” an officer wrote in the complaint. “When asked why he was going to do that, he said it is to preserve life.”

Villegas, armed with a rifle, let the child out through the garage door and stayed inside the house, according to the complaint.

Officers began to surround the house and called the SWAT team for assistance. That’s when police heard gunshots and realized one of the bullets had struck a uniformed officer.

“Unfortunately, one of the shots hit an officer posted at a perimeter post in the shoulder,” said officer Fred Duran, an APD spokesman.

SWAT officers launched several gas canisters into the house before Villegas came out and was taken into custody around 3 a.m. Duran said officers didn’t fire any shots during the incident and Villegas was not injured.

Villegas, a security officer for the University of New Mexico Hospital, is charged with aggravated battery on a police officer, false imprisonment, child abuse and misdemeanor domestic violence.

Cindy Foster, a UNMH spokeswoman, said he had undergone a background check when he was hired in October 2014. According to online court records, he has been charged only with driving under the influence of alcohol.

Although an officer wrote in the complaint that Villegas, who has “Superman tattoos” on both arms, had past incidents with APD, it is unclear what those incidents were.

Foster said he is now on unpaid administrative leave.

“Our hearts go out to the officer injured in the line of duty, and we are all praying for a complete and speedy recovery,” Foster said.