By Dan Klein
-- The bodies keep piling up in ABQ. Four bodies found in car at Sunport.
-- Thirty homicides so far this year.
Albuquerque went two days before chalking (a body) up another homicide. This one occurred around 2:15 Sunday afternoon at Coronado Mall. Read that again, Sunday afternoon in the east parking lot--near Louisiana Boulevard--of Coronado Mall. How many of you have shopped, or your kids have shopped, on a Sunday afternoon at Coronado Mall? Scary.
Albuquerque Police have also confirmed that there were four, that’s right, four bodies found in the car at the Sunport. Three of the victims had last known residences in Grants and one appears to be from Albuquerque. It is still unknown where these murders took place at, so until we know they will have to be counted in Albuquerque’s homicide meter. Scarier.
Albuquerque has now racked up 30 homicides for 2021. We want to put Interim Chief Harold Medina and Mayor Tim Keller at ease with the promise that we will remove the bodies found at the Sunport when there is evidence they were not murdered within the city limits of Albuquerque. Let me clarify, the bodies have already been removed from the Sunport, we just won’t count them.
Three of the homicides APD has determined as “justified”. They are:
Claude Trevino, killed by APD on February 20, 2021 after he threatened officers with a knife.
Ruben Parra on February 2, 2021. APD has not released any other details.
Mark Padilla on January 9, 2021. APD has not released any other details.
To date APD has not released any information explaining why these homicides are justified, although I believe the video of the police shooting speaks for itself. I am sure Dr. Ginger will find a reason to nitpick this, complaining that the officers didn’t run away fast enough while being chased by a man with a knife. Ginger will call it a “catastrophic failure” on APD’s part, that their officers don’t have the speed of Usan Bolt. Ginger will demand that his contract be renewed and increased as the only way to fix this “catastrophe”.
We are still waiting for APD PIO Gilbert Gallegos to get back to us regarding the three dead people found in the house in Westgate and the two dead people found in a house fire on Kathryn. I know Gilbert is busy with Twitter and everything but come on man give us some answers.
ABQREPORT is also attempting to get formal documents from APD to verify that there have been 120 non-fatal shootings since the beginning of the year. Getting APD to answer simple questions right now has be an exercise in futility. I mean who do they think they work for? Oh yeah, they work for us. Well, then their silence makes me think this is an election year or the chief of police position is open, oh yeah, both of those are true. I guess no one should hold their breath expecting APD or Mayor Keller to be forthcoming with any public information that they deem will hurt them politically.
The only people holding their breath in Albuquerque right now are innocent citizens when they go shopping and APD officers when they find multiple bodies decaying in a house, or car.
Until tomorrow, God I hope I don’t have to update this tomorrow, this has been your Albuquerque homicide update.