ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – An Albuquerque police officer is recovering after another APD officer accidentally shot him. 

It happened as they were dealing with a domestic disturbance call in the southeast part of the city last month.

It all began with a 911 call from a home off Central and Elizabeth in southeast Albuquerque. APD officers Jeff Schwarzel, Reanna Torres, and Vanessa Zuniga responded to a call for help in mid-October. That’s where they met 41-year-old Matthew Sanchez. 

Police say Sanchez came out of the trailer with a gun and raised it at officers. That’s when all three shot at him. Sanchez was killed, but Schwarzel was also caught in the gunfire. 

Department leaders went through that lapel video with us Tuesday. They say when Torres fired her weapon, she wasn’t looking at Sanchez.

Schwarzel was shot through his right bicep and into his hand. He is recovering.

APD Chief Harold Medina says officers are trained to make sure they have a clear target, but it’s not always a perfect scenario. 

“If you look at that video it appears that at one point in time it appears that there’s an elbow out and that’s almost in the area where the officer was struck. So it could have been as simple as they didn’t see an elbow out, but they saw the rest of the body,” said Medina.  

Medina also noted he believes in second chances. If the incident is ruled a mistake and not misconduct, he would welcome the officer back to the force. 

“I hope that everybody within the Albuquerque Police Department remembers that we should always help people improve and remember that everybody’s a human at one point in time,” said Medina. 

Police say Sanchez never fired his gun and it wasn’t loaded at the time. However, they say he did fire several rounds into the air down the block before police arrived. 

Officers Torres and Zuniga are not back on duty yet as the investigation continues.