In the early morning hours of July 17, 2018, 33-year-old Anthony Sandoval awoke to find that the windows of his Jeep and Mazda sedan had been shattered at his apartment complex located at 6801 Los Volcanos NW in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Suspecting Arthur Lujan, the new partner of his ex-wife, Brittany Sandoval, he reached out to her to inquire about Lujan's location. A history of animosity existed between the two men, and Sandoval had previously accused Lujan of vandalizing his vehicles.
Brittany Sandoval, however, denied knowing Lujan's whereabouts and sent a text message to her ex-husband, urging him to be careful. In response, Anthony Sandoval sent threatening text messages directed at Lujan and his family. A police report was filed regarding the vandalism.
Later that same morning, at approximately 9:15 a.m., a sense of impending danger prompted Anthony Sandoval to call 911. He reported to the operator that Arthur Lujan was back at his apartment complex and was driving directly toward him in a threatening manner. As the 911 operator listened, a commotion could be heard over the line, followed by Sandoval's final words: "He just shot me. He shot me." The line then went silent. When authorities arrived at the scene, they discovered Anthony Sandoval deceased in the driver's seat of his Jeep, having sustained multiple gunshot wounds.
The investigation into Anthony Sandoval's murder quickly zeroed in on Arthur Lujan as the primary suspect. By the following day, July 18, 2018, law enforcement had tracked Lujan to a residence at 6715 Black Volcano Rd. NW. When detectives made contact, Lujan's girlfriend, Brittany Sandoval, confirmed he was inside and confessed that he had admitted to shooting her ex-husband. After successfully evacuating Brittany, their child, and Lujan's parents from the home, a standoff ensued as Lujan barricaded himself inside. The confrontation lasted for nine hours, involving both the Albuquerque Police Department's SWAT team and the New Mexico State Police Tactical Team. The standoff concluded when Arthur Lujan, aged 30, emerged from the garage and fired a handgun at the officers. In the exchange of gunfire that followed, Lujan was fatally shot by police. Authorities later stated that had Lujan survived, he would have faced charges for the murder of Anthony Sandoval.
