In Las Cruces, a Santa Fe deputy was shot and murdered by a fellow deputy Tuesday night at Hotel Encanto. The suspect fired several shots from his handgun while his colleague fled the scene of the alcohol-induced argument.
The suspect for the murder is Deputy Tai Chan, a warrant officer with Santa Fe County. Chan was charged with an open count of murder Tuesday afternoon and has been held without bond at the Dona Ana County Detention Center.
The incident in Las Cruces where a deputy was shot and killed, happened just after midnight after the two deputies transported a prisoner to Safford, Ariz., reports the Associated Press.
According to investigators, Martin, 29, and Chan, 27, returned to their hotel Monday, after going to three restaurants, including Dublin's Street Pub where they drank and got into a heated fight. The fight seemed to have escalated quickly once they got back to their hotel.
"It's believed they consumed alcohol," according to a news release from the Las Cruces police. Witnesses said they heard arguing and then several gunshots rang out.
Martin was shot in the arms and back after he tried to escape his colleague, Chan, said authorities. When officers got to the scene around 12:30 a.m., they found Martin, the deputy shot, bleeding heavily outside the elevator by the lobby. He suffered several gunshot wounds to his back and arms.
Martin was rushed to Mountain View Regional Medical Center in Las Cruces, but he did not make it and the shot deputy was pronounced dead, reports the Albuquerque Journal.
As for Chan, a K-9 officer reportedly found him in a hotel stairwell near the hotel's roof. He was taken into police custody without incident. He was unarmed, but a Glock semi-automatic handgun, believed to be his duty weapon, was found near where he was sitting.
John Day, Chan's attorney, said the case in Las Cruces with a deputy shot and killed by his own colleague, was still under investigation. Details remain limited.
"It's a tragic situation for everybody involved," said Day.
Chan should be making his first court appearance and be arraigned in Magistrate Court in Las Cruces Wednesday. It remains unclear whether the Las Cruces deputy who shot and murdered his colleague will be placed on administrative leave.
Investigators, together with the Las Cruces Police Department, were at Hotel Encanto's parking lot Tuesday to collect evidence from the crime scene. Inside the Las Cruces hotel where the deputy was shot, the crime scene was cordoned off with crime scene tape as investigators worked.
Rayburn Thompson of Tennessee was staying at the hotel when the deputy shot, killed, his own co-officer.
"I was just awakened by about six gunshots and now my hotel is surrounded by cops," Thompson said in one tweet after the incident.
"We're not allowed to leave our rooms ... and I can see what appears to be all the hotel staff evacuated across the street," he said in another tweet. "The shooter had been banging on doors claiming to be a cop."
Meanwhile, other hotel guests said were unaware of the chaos happening outside their rooms, said the Las Cruces Sun-News.
An emotional news conference was held by Santa Fe County Sheriff Robert Garcia Tuesday morning to talk about the Las Cruces incident where their deputy shot their own people. He reportedly tried to fight back tears through much of his explanation.
"This has been a major shock to this agency and to my staff. In my 34-year career, I would never think and hoped that I would never receive that kind of phone call," he said. "I never thought it would be two from within my own agency."
"Any time your phone rings at 1, 1:30, 2 in the morning, you know something has taken place, but this has been a major impact and a major shock to all my staff," continued Garcia. "We do have a very strong law enforcement family here at the Sheriff's Office and I'm sure it will take a long time before we get over some of this ... We're here for each other as we grieve through this process."
Garcia added that his department was mourning.
"I have grief counselors or crisis counselors here now meeting with a lot of my personnel, but it's a grieving law enforcement agency," he said.
While his deputies are allowed to consume alcohol during overnight trips, Garcia said cannot be done while they are on duty. He added that they have to follow a code of conduct all the time.
Martin and Chan had a great relationship working together, said Garcia. He added that he did not know of any problems brewing between the two.
Martin had been a deputy for 2 and a half years while Chan had been working on the force for three years now. Martin, the deputy shot, and killed by Chan, his own co-worker, was married with three children. All children are under the age of 10, according to the sheriff's office.
On Tuesday, Garcia went to the wife of Martin, Sarah, to tell her of the devastating news about her husband.
"I think everyone is quite shocked," Sarah said in a telephone interview later after the incident.
"He was a self-sacrificing kind of a person and put everyone else first," said Sarah of her husband. "He was very well-balanced as far as family and career. He had a big heart and gave everyone the benefit of the doubt."
"He was a great dad, a great husband, a family guy - well grounded," she added. "I am still kind of processing." Sarah also told KOAT that she is pregnant with another child. She and Martin had reportedly been high school sweethearts.
The Las Cruces incident where a deputy was shot by his own colleague is the first Santa Fe County deputy killed in 34 years, according to KOAT Action 7 News.
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