A homeless man with a history of mental illness and criminal convictions killed a New Mexico police officer — moments before he was fatally shot by a witness, police said Tuesday.
Las Cruces Officer Jonah Hernandez, 35, was responding to a trespassing call at a business around 5pm Sunday when he was attacked by repeat offender Armando Silva.
“When he arrived, Armando Silva immediately attacked him with a large kitchen knife,” Police Chief Jeremy Story said at a press conference.
“For no apparent reason, Silva killed Officer Hernandez.”
Silva, 29, later angered bystanders who had grabbed guns from their cars after witnessing the “unprovoked attack,” Story said.
Witnesses fired at least one shot, killing Silva.
They then used Hernandez’s radio to call for help. Police rushed him to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Hernandez’s death marks the first of an officer in the line of duty for the Las Cruces Police Department.
Police Officer Jonah Hernandez has been on the Las Cruces force since June 2022.
According to Story: “Silva has a long history of violent crime and mental illness.”
The homeless man’s criminal history includes a 2015 conviction for kidnapping and aggravated grievous bodily harm to a household member, which resulted in a prison sentence. Silva violated his probation several times and was sent back to prison in subsequent years, Story said.
Hernandez is a two-year veteran of the Las Cruces Police force, having graduated from the academy in June 2022 with the department’s largest graduating class.
Armando Silva is homeless and has a history of mental illness and violent criminal convictions.
He is survived by his wife, Yesenia Lopez, and two sons, 10-year-old Sebastian Jonah and 2-year-old Joaquin Leonel.
Hernandez is the 14th officer killed in the line of duty in the US this year, according to Down’s Officer Memorial Page, but the first killed on the Las Cruces force in its 96-year history.
The department mourned Hernandez with a long police escort Tuesday that traveled 46 miles to the slain officer’s home in El Paso.
Hernandez leaves behind a wife and two young sons. Hernandez’s line-of-duty death marks the first for the Las Cruces team in its 96-year history.
“We, as a law enforcement agency, are still trying to process the sudden and senseless death of one of our officers,” Story said. “This is not something you practice or get used to.
“Officer Jonah Hernandez was a compassionate and dedicated officer who did his job while most of us were watching the Super Bowl. Yunus was attacked while making contact with the subject of the trespassing call. This sudden and unprovoked attack took the life of an officer, a husband, a father, a brother, a son, a friend and a great young man.”
Police do not plan to recommend charges against the witness, who has not been identified, in the shooting death of Silva.
Categories: Trending
Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
