After Felon Shoots Drug Dealer, Armed Citizens Hold him for Police

(Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)
(Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)
(Adolphe Pierre-Louis/Journal)

An Albuquerque drug deal went south between a convicted felon and a drug dealer, the felon pulled out a gun and shot several rounds at the other man and innocent people nearby.

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Authorities said they were able to arrest the convicted felon in possession of a firearm thanks to two good guys with guns who held him at gunpoint until police arrived on scene.

Officer Tanner Tixier said 32-year-old Eugene Padilla and another man were fighting over drugs near the 7-Eleven at Wyoming and Candelaria NE when Padilla fired several rounds shooting the man and nearly striking several passersby.

When police arrived they found the victim had been shot in the leg, and two people were holding another man, later identified as Padilla, at gunpoint, Tixier said.

“The other two subjects who were originally detained were good Samaritans, armed with their own firearms, who tackled Padilla and held him at gunpoint until police arrived,” he said.

Padilla, a convicted felon, will be charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon and numerous counts of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, Tixier said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives may charge him federally him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, he said.

“Detectives are still determining if the victim will be charged with any narcotics related offenses,” Tixier said.

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