Suspect arrested for allegedly shooting man after crash

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Police arrested a suspect accused of shooting a person in the back after a crash Tuesday in northeast Albuquerque.

Albuquerque police officers responded around 11:20 a.m. Tuesday to reports of a crash and a shooting in the area of Comanche Road, just west of Eubank Boulevard. They found a man with a gunshot wound, whom medics took to the hospital.

At the hospital, the man told police that a woman, who was in the truck that he said rear-ended his vehicle, shot him. He said that she pulled out a gun after noticing he was recording her and the person she was with. Then, he said he took the gun, pulled the magazine out and walked away before hearing two gunshots.

Witnesses told police that the man approached the woman aggressively, telling them they couldn’t leave.

Investigators said the woman, identified as Heather Lopez, turned herself in after a family member recognized the truck in a news story and connected it to her.

Lopez told investigators that she was riding in the truck with her friends at the time of the crash. She allegedly said the driver and another friend ran away while she and her other friend stayed.

In her interview, Lopez said similar things as witnesses but elaborated that she warned the man about her gun “several times” and that she would use it if he continued to approach her. Then, when he took the gun, investigators said she allegedly pulled out a second gun and shot him “out of fear” as he faced her.

However, investigators found the gunshots struck his lower back, corroborating the man’s story that he pulled out the magazine and walked away.

Lopez faces charges of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and robbery with a deadly weapon.

MORE: Police investigate crash reportedly related to shooting in northeast Albuquerque