Family seeks answers after deadly road rage shooting

Family seeks answers after deadly road rage shooting

A midnight ride in northeast Albuquerque changed one local family forever.

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — “He was shot four times, and that’s all we have. That’s all we know,” said Carol Clyda Archuleta, Jose Gonzalez’s mom. 

Archuleta never thought she would have to process the loss of her son. 

“Losing a child is the worst thing a person could ever go through. You’re not supposed to bury your children,” said Archuleta. 

Her son, Jose Gonzalez, died in what she says was a road rage shooting in northeast Albuquerque.

“His stepson may have gave somebody a dirty look because he was a passenger in the back. And that the car next to him just decided to start shooting,” Archuleta said. 

It happened just after midnight on Sept. 15 near Eubank and Copper. 

“My whole world crumbled that night. And I don’t think I can ever put it back together,” said Archuleta.  

Albuquerque police put out a Crime Stoppers alert weeks later, saying investigators believe a dark-colored Chrysler 300 was involved. But police haven’t made any arrests. 

“Every car, is that them? Is that them? Could that be them? It’s driving me crazy,” said Archuleta. 

Gonzalez’s niece says she won’t be able to grieve until she has answers. 

“I can’t even go to the store and Albuquerque and just like, look at someone, and I’m like, I question, like, what were you doing this day?” said Destyne Carranza, Gonzalez’s niece. 

She says she considered Gonzalez more of a father than an uncle. 

“He was everything to me,” said Carranza.

He also had seven kids of his own, five biological, and two step kids. His oldest is 16 and his youngest is 2 years old. 

“He didn’t just take care of his children. He took care of his whole family, you know, from me to his sisters, to his nieces, to his, you know, his kids. So it’s a huge loss,” said Archuleta. 

One she doesn’t know if she’ll ever get over, even after an arrest. 

“I don’t know how I’m still standing, I don’t know how I’m still going. I don’t. But I’m trying. I have to keep trying,” said Archuleta. 

An APD spokesperson says this is still an ongoing investigation and there are no updates. They are asking anyone with information to call Crime Stoppers.