Newly released video shows two young boys engaging New Mexico deputies in an armed standoff.
The boys, ages 7 and 9, both handled a loaded handgun — and one of them even pointed it at Bernalillo County Sheriff’s Office deputies on Feb. 16
‘We know where the children learned the behavior from, and that is being addressed as well.’
The two young boys, seen in the video dressed in “Minecraft” and “Star Wars”-themed pajamas, are standing next to an air-conditioning unit while handling a loaded handgun.
During the nearly seven-minute video, the boys are seen struggling with each other to take control of the gun.
Image source: Bernalillo County (N.M.) Sheriff’s Office
A female voice is heard saying in the drone video, “Put it down, baby. Put it down, babe.”
A deputy tells the children, “Just throw it on the ground, bud. Come talk to us. You’re not in trouble.”
After more than five minutes into the standoff, police fired a warning shot — a non-lethal projectile — near the children, and the boy holding the gun immediately pointed it at officers.
Image source: Bernalillo County (N.M.) Sheriff’s Office
Deputies scream in unison, “Drop it! Drop it!”
The boy who was not holding the gun put his hand up and hid behind the air-conditioning unit.
Police fired another warning shot.
As both boys took cover between the air conditioning unit and a house, a deputy rushed toward the children and wrestled the gun away from the boy, after which other deputies converged on the scene and took the pair into custody.
Image source: Bernalillo County (N.M.) Sheriff’s Office
Image source: Bernalillo County (N.M.) Sheriff’s Office
The sheriff’s office said in a statement, “Utilizing BCSO’s drone program, deputies were able to monitor the situation in real-time, providing critical updates and enhancing situational awareness. This technology allowed deputies to secure the area swiftly and safely, ultimately preventing a potential deadly force encounter with the juveniles.”
Bernalillo County Sheriff John Allen stated, “I will tell, if it was not for our drone program, we would have probably went in there a little bit more blind and been into a deadly force confrontation pretty quick, and as you can imagine, it would have not gone well with us killing and shooting a 7- and 9-year-old.”
Police said the drone program has been “instrumental in providing deputies with additional tools to manage diverse and high-risk situations.”
Sheriff Allen said, “This case illustrates the complex intersection of juvenile crime, mental health, and public safety. We are taking important steps to close service gaps and expand our ability to work with juveniles involved in firearms or violent crimes.”
Allen added that his department previously had been called to the home at least 50 times due to issues with the boys and their family, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
Allen did note that if the boys were several years older, the department would ‘probably be speaking differently and doing it the reverse route.’
BCSO Behavioral Health Unit Clinical Manager Michael Lucero said members of the unit immediately went to the boys’ home to assist the family with “numerous issues they’re experiencing” and conducted psychiatric evaluations of the children.
Lucero said the unit is working on getting help for the children and the parent who reportedly has an extensive history of trauma.
The family’s case agent, Danielle Smith, told KRQE-TV, “I don’t know how much I’m able to say, so I’m just gonna leave it very vague, but we know where the children learned the behavior from, and that is being addressed as well.”
BCSO Deputy Deanna Aragon said the boys were not arrested, and no charges were filed against the children. She noted that the children have not been removed from the home.
Law enforcement did not divulge where the boys got the gun but said the firearm was seized after the standoff.
Sheriff Allen said the boys “were taught how to use the firearm.”
Police said the case is still under investigation, and the parents could face charges.
“We’re dealing with a 7- and 9-year-old, so now we’re looking at the adult side, how they had the firearm, are they gonna be charged with the Bennie Hargrove law, we’re looking into all of that,” Allen stated.
The Bennie Hargrove law holds adults criminally liable for negligently allowing minors access to firearms.
Allen also pushed back against critics who called for the arrest of the young boys.
“Children are our future, and we know one side is going to say, ‘Lock them in jail.’ They’re 7 and 9 years old. I told you before, numerous times in numerous interviews, that I understand the frontal lobe,” Allen said, referring to children’s incomplete brain development.
Allen added, “Arresting people isn’t the only way out of this crisis of juvenile crime. … You have to look at it from a bunch of different avenues and use the resources you have, and then criminal elements can come later.”
Allen did note that if the boys were several years older, the department would “probably be speaking differently and doing it the reverse route.”
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Guns, New mexico, New mexico crime, Police bodycam footage, Standoff, Armed standoff, Police bodycam video, Crime, Children, Boys
