On April 16, 2022, 75-year-old Amelia Baca, a resident of Las Cruces, New Mexico, was shot and killed by a Las Cruces Police Department officer during a response to a 911 call. Baca, who suffered from dementia, was experiencing a mental health crisis when her family members called for assistance, hoping to get her the help she needed.
The incident unfolded when Baca's family contacted 911, informing the dispatcher about her dementia and the mental health crisis she was undergoing.
Despite this critical information, the LCPD officers who arrived at the scene did not deploy the crisis intervention team, which is specifically trained to handle such situations. Instead, the officers encountered Baca, who was armed with two kitchen knives and was reportedly threatening to kill her daughter. The body camera video released by the police department shows that Baca did not comply with the officer's commands to drop the knives, leading to a confrontation.
The officer involved in the shooting, who has been identified as having approximately nine years of service with the LCPD and more than 70 hours of Crisis Intervention Training beyond his police academy training, shot Baca twice after she failed to comply with his orders. The body camera video and 911 call audio reveal a chaotic scene where the officer yelled at Baca and did not attempt to de-escalate the situation. Baca's family and their attorney, Sam Bregman, have criticized the officer's actions, stating that he 'elevated' the situation rather than de-escalating it. Bregman highlighted that the officer's behavior, including using profanity and screaming at Baca, was inappropriate given her mental state and lack of understanding of the situation.
Following the shooting, Baca was still alive but received no immediate medical aid from the officers. Instead, the officer who shot her ordered another officer to drag her out of her house, a action described by Bregman as treating her 'like a hunted animal they had just killed'.
The officer involved in the shooting was placed on administrative leave, which is standard procedure in such incidents. However, no criminal charges were filed against the officer. The Doña Ana County District Attorney and the New Mexico Attorney General decided not to pursue a criminal case after experts concluded that the shooting could be considered a case of self-defense. This decision was met with significant criticism from Baca's family and the ACLU of New Mexico, who argued that the crisis intervention team should have been deployed to prevent the tragedy and that the officer's actions were a violation of Baca's constitutional rights.
Baca's family has since filed lawsuits in both state and federal courts, alleging various torts including aggravated battery resulting in death and violations of the New Mexico state constitution and the Fourth and Fourteenth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution. The family and their attorney continue to seek justice and accountability for the officer's actions, emphasizing the need for comprehensive statewide use of force policy reform and increased oversight to prevent similar tragedies in the future.
