24 April 2016
The Albuquerque Police Department released body cam video on Friday showing ten officers firing repeatedly at a stolen vehicle, believing the driver had run over a fellow officer.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, 20-year-old Rodrigo Garcia was hit seven times — including once in the head — by the 48 bullets that peppered the car.
The incident occurred on May 29 of last year and sent Garcia to the hospital with gunshot wounds to his head, shoulder, both hands, ear and right leg.
Official reports from the arresting officers state that 10 officers surrounded Garcia in the car as he drove it in reverse into a tree, then forward hitting a police car and pushing over a fence which knocked Albuquerque Police Lt. Michelle Campbell to the ground.
Fearing Campbell had been run over, the responding officers unleashed a fusillade of shots at the car, later extracting the wounded Garcia after using a flash bang grenade.
According to police, Garcia was wanted on charges of vehicle theft, felon in possession of a firearm and drug charges at the time of the incident.
The previous day, police say Garcia eluded them after driving into a marked police cruiser.
According to police spokesperson Celina Espinoza, the department will not be pursuing charges against Garcia whose injuries have left him severely disabled after surgeons were forced to remove part of his brain.
An attorney for the Garcia family said they would be filing a civil suit against the city and the police department.
Watch the shooting video below via the Albuquerque Journal