State police: Reckless driver in stolen vehicle spurs four officer shootings downtown

But the family’s day out was smashed to pieces midmorning, after police say a man driving recklessly in a stolen vehicle prompted four shootings by city officers and at least one Santa Fe County deputy in the downtown area.

“It was horrible,” said Araujo, a native Santa Fean. “It was a nightmare.”

Around 10:30 a.m. Sunday, a driver started crashing into cars downtown and “leading the police on a chase,” Mayor Alan Webber said in an interview.

“He was apprehended, and he’s in custody,” Webber said of the suspect. “Unfortunately, he successfully ruined the day for everybody else.”

The incident spurred a social media frenzy as witnesses described a police pursuit of the suspect, who crashed near the intersection of East Palace Avenue and Canyon Road, where he was taken into custody.

New Mexico State Police, which is investigating the officer-involved shooting, said in a statement on X, formerly Twitter, the shooting involved both the Santa Fe Police Department and the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office. Officers were OK, the state agency said, but the suspect was wounded.

State police Lt. Phil Vargas issued a news release late Sunday identifying the suspect as 21-year-old Justin Jimenez of Santa Fe.

Jimenez was suspected of driving a Jeep Grand Cherokee that had been reported stolen around 2 a.m. Sunday. With help from the Jeep’s owner, who had an AirTag on the vehicle, Vargas wrote in the release, police found the vehicle later Sunday morning at a McDonald’s near the intersection of Cerrillos Road and St. Francis Drive.

However, the driver eluded officers twice as they tried to pull the Jeep over — first near the McDonald’s and later on Guadalupe Street, where Fiesta parade preparations were underway, Vargas wrote. Police didn’t initially pursue the vehicle.

Eventually, however, Vargas wrote, the suspect began driving recklessly downtown, plowing through barricades near Sheridan Avenue and striking a portable toilet.

That set off a series of four officer-involved shootings, Vargas wrote: the first near Nusbaum Street, a short stretch that runs between Otero Street and Washington Avenue; the second close by near Palace Avenue, as the suspect disregarded additional barricades; and two more before the vehicle came to a stop near East Palace Avenue and Canyon Road.

Jimenez was transported to a local hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries” after he was apprehended, Vargas wrote in the news release.

“The investigation is ongoing, and the details are preliminary at this time,” he added.

State police ask anyone with videos or photos of the events surrounding the shooting to call the agency at 505-841-9256.

Police have not said whether Jimenez was suspected of being armed or firing shots during the incident, though social media accounts from business owners and other bystanders indicated many witnesses believed the driver was armed.

Santa Fe County Sheriff Adan Mendoza confirmed one of his deputies was involved in the incident but had no other information about the incident. Deputies had been stationed downtown to assist other law enforcement agencies in traffic control during the planned parade, he said.

Santa Fe police Deputy Chief Ben Valdez said late Sunday his agency planned to release its own account of the incidents that led to the shooting.

“SFPD is working on the criminal investigation, which is separate from the officer involved shooting investigation being conducted by New Mexico State Police,” he wrote in an email. “We are hoping to provide an update in a media release later this evening with the identification of the suspect and the charges they are facing.”

‘A whole bunch of gunshots’

After hearing the gunshots, Araujo’s family scattered in search of safety.

Most of the group sought shelter in the Paso de Luz shopping center on San Francisco Street, Araujo said. Her son and grandson ran toward another business. And her husband, who had gone back to the car for chairs, hid out near La Fonda on the Plaza.

“We just heard the gunshots going off and people yelling and just took off running,” she recalled. “[We] couldn’t find each other or anything. It was horrible.”

The incident unfolded as the 9 a.m. Mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Francis of Assisi was ending with a Buffalo Dance by Indigenous dancers.

Known as the Fiesta Mass, it was attended by members of the Fiesta de Santa Fe Royal Court and the Fiesta Council.

Churchgoers said a crowd rushed into the cathedral seeking shelter, prompting people attending Mass to duck under the pews or run to their cars amid the commotion.

State Sen. Joe Cervantes said in a social media post worshippers “dove under pews” during the incident.

“It’s now all hugs and tears though many remain sheltered in place concerned with reports the shooting is political in Santa Fe,” Cervantes wrote on X.

Ramsay de Give was just outside the cathedral Sunday morning.

A freelance photojournalist, de Give had planned to capture the morning’s solemn procession when he heard “a whole bunch of gunshots” — really loud and really close.

Then he saw a white SUV speed down East Palace Avenue toward Paseo de Peralta.

“I’ve never seen a car go that fast on Palace before. I mean, he was accelerating at a really rapid rate,” de Give said.

Ultimately, the vehicle crashed near Canyon Road — coming to a halt about 40 feet from the entrance to The Teahouse, said Monica Walsh, the restaurant’s general manager.

“Everyone heard the crash,” Walsh said.

Shortly after the incident, the Plaza was blocked to pedestrians, with several law enforcement agencies converging on the scene.

‘Sad way to end this weekend’

City Councilor Michael Garcia said he was making his way to the Plaza when a family member who witnessed the incident warned him to steer clear of the area. He said he continued traveling to the downtown area to make sure the situation was under control and the public was safe.

“This is just a deeply sad way to end this weekend,” he said. “It’s tough. This is very, very tough.”

Around noon, the Santa Fe Fiesta Council issued a statement praising the swift police response to the incident and announcing all remaining Fiesta events were canceled after “an unfortunate shooting occurred at the apex of the Plaza.”

“While this is a heartbreaking decision for everyone involved in the Fiesta, we are incredibly grateful that no one was harmed during this incident,” the statement said.

The Fiesta Council encouraged “everyone to remain calm and united.”

“We are a resilient and caring community, and together, we will move forward from this [with] strength,” Fiesta Council President Krystle Lucero said in the statement.

After receiving word the remaining Fiesta festivities would be canceled, vendors at the Palace of the Governors and on the Plaza started breaking down their booths and moving out of the area.

As she packed up her wares Sunday, Fiesta vendor Sarah Guzman described a chaotic scene on the Plaza when the quiet morning was pierced by gunfire.

“All we heard was gunshots, so everybody went into a panic, started running,” she said. “Everybody in the street started running, and they started telling everybody to get cover and to get into the buildings. I got under my table and hid under there.”

Guzman said she was terrified.

“I’ve never been that scared,” she said. “We thought somebody was in the Plaza shooting at us, so everybody got terrified, and we all went into a panic.”

Guzman, who owns The Pink Giraffe of Santa Fe in the Santa Fe Arcade on the Plaza, said the decision to cancel the remainder of Fiesta would be difficult on vendors, especially those who traveled long distances. She and her husband only do three shows a year, Guzman added, and Fiesta marked their last.

“We were looking forward to today, but I’d rather be safe,” she said.

By 1:30 p.m., Araujo and her family were safe — and together again.

After initially scattering, the family reunited at her house, she said, “to thank God for each and every one of us and to comfort each other.” While terrifying, the incident reaffirmed the family’s love for and commitment to one another.

“We’re really all there for each other at the end of the day,” she said.

Still, the incident — which comes after a summer of violent occurrences and community discussions on public safety — stirred up Araujo’s worries for her hometown.

“It’s an unfortunate thing,” she said. “We’re too small of a city to have all of this going on.”