Man accused of shooting at NE Albuquerque homes released from jail

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – A man accused of shooting up at least one home in his own northeast Albuquerque neighborhood – with a high-powered air rifle – is no longer in jail Monday night. 

The state withdrew a motion to keep Ryan Heun locked up, saying there are conditions of release they think would keep the public safe, including having him move away from the neighborhood near Juan Tabo and Spain.

“Absolutely no contact with the victims, the state would ask for a zero tolerance on that one, and zero tolerance to return to the scene of the incident except with police escort to gather any belongings,” said Matthew Hasler, state prosecutor. 

The judge’s decision Monday afternoon provided little comfort to multiple families who had been living near Heun. They say, since his arrest almost a week ago, they’ve been able to sleep better at night.

They worry now that the court’s order may not be enough to keep the suspect away.

Ethan Grant, whose home was targeted last Monday, says he took the time while Heun was behind bars to reach out to Heun’s father who is still living across the street.

“This level of just compassion came when I started to hear his situation,” said Grant. “And then I’m like ‘Hey man can I just pray for you and just like I’m a Christian, can I just pray for you’ and the father broke down in tears and just started crying, and since then we’ve kind of built a relationship with the father. The son was just released today, I do think there needs to be more done around this situation, but I do have a new level of compassion just for the family and what they’re going through.”

“My concern is that he’s going to come back to the neighborhood and escalate,” said Caitlin Bourgoine. “I did speak to a detective, and they’re working on getting enough evidence to prove my case as well, but the detective did say that would be difficult.”

As of Monday night, Heun does not face charges in other shootings that have happened recently in that same neighborhood. He does face a felony charge of criminal damage to property for the shooting that happened at the Grant family home last week.

According to his arrest warrant, he caused more than $15,000 worth of damage.