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The Albuquerque Police Department is still unable to produce video of the Mary Hawkes’ officer-involved fatal shooting of Mary Hawkes earlier this week.
At a press conference Wednesday morning, APD Chief Gorden Eden said the city and state police, the District Attorney’s Office and an independent review officer are conducting an active investigation on Hawkes’ shooting.
On Monday, APD officer Jeremy Dear shot dead Hawkes, 19, at the intersection of Zuni and Wyoming.
Eden said that although Dear wore an on-body camera during the encounter, police were unable to recover video from the device. Eden said he could not confirm whether Dear turned off his camera before the shooting or whether the device malfunctioned.
“It’s important for us to let the investigation run its course,” Eden said. “At any officer-involved shooting, on-scene supervisors and on-scene personnel provide preliminary information. At this time, we have no video of the shooting as it has not been recovered from Officer Dear’s on-body camera system. We have sent the system to the manufacturer for technical and forensic analysis.”
APD policy requires officers to turn on an on-body camera in every encounter they have with people, Eden said. Not doing so entails penalties ranging from a letter of reprimand to suspension.
Eden said Dear shot Hawkes after police spotted her driving a stolen Ford pickup truck at about 3 a.m. that day. Police later located the car abandoned and found Hawkes’ identification inside. They located Hawkes at a trailer park southwest of Zuni Road and Wyoming Boulevard.
Eden said police attempted to talk to Hawkes, but she fled from the park and, as she was being chased, she allegedly pointed a gun at Dear, Eden said. Dear allegedly shot Hawkes in retaliation, and the woman died at the scene.
Police found a Davis Industries 32-caliber semi-automatic handgun near Hawkes’ body, Eden said.
APD confirmed that Monday’s incident was Dear’s first officer-involved shooting.
Police were able to recover on-body camera footage from other officers at the perimeter, but Eden said the department has not finished reviewing all the videos yet.
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Eden said APD has forwarded investigation materials to the Department of Justice for further investigation. He said APD is still interviewing witnesses of the shooting, and does not have a specific timeline for the investigation yet.
