ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — During a domestic violence call in southeast Albuquerque last month, police shot and killed a suspect – and one officer injured another.

Investigators said a suspect came toward officers Jeff Schwarzel, Reanna Torres and Vanessa Zuniga with a gun when they responded to the call in mid-October. Officers opened fire and killed 41-year-old Matthew Sanchez.

Officer Schwarzel was also shot. Investigators said the bullet likely came from Torres’ weapon.

As is the standard protocol in “officer-involved shootings” like these, a multi-agency task force launched an investigation and prosecutors will take a look at their findings. 

KOB 4 had Dr. Ron Martinelli look at the body cam footage in this case. Martinelli is a retired police detective and current forensic investigator who consults on cases nationwide.

Martinelli said there are a few areas of concern.

“Based on what I’m seeing, I see problems, issues with both the shooting officer and the officer that got shot,” he said.

Martinelli reviewed part of Torres’ body cam footage and Zuniga’s footage. He said he saw a problem when Schwarzel stepped forward. 

“They need to be yelling at the officer that steps into the line of fire, ‘Hey, you’re in the line of fire,’” Martinelli said. 

Martinelli said adrenaline can take over in high stress situations like these and Torres may have had tunnel vision. 

“That’s how officers get shot, so the officer who moved in front that was a definite mistake. They need to stay somewhat in a line with each other,” Martinelli said. 

Martinelli said another issue is that Schwarzel moved toward the threat. He also said the light from the guns created a silhouette around Schwarzel, making him harder to see. 

“The other problem you have here, for the three officers, is you have neither cover nor concealment. Remember, concealment is something that can hide you but won’t stop a bullet. Cover is something that can hide you but also stop a bullet. These officers had none of that available to them,” Martinelli said. 

Martinelli added, for most officers in these situations, training never fully kicks in because they don’t get enough of it. If they don’t have to use those skills, they lose the skills.

“That’s the one where the officers get into the most trouble, one way or another. It’s something they don’t do very often and when they do do it there’s a tremendous amount of risk associated with it. In this case, it’s kind of a life or death thing,” Martinelli said. 

Police said Schwarzel will recover from his injury. As of last week, the three responding officers were not back to work yet. 

MORE:

• Lapel video shows new details in fatal shooting