FARMINGTON – Police have identified the man taken to the hospital Wednesday morning with multiple gunshot wounds after an officer-involved shooting.
Police identified the subject as Humberto Vasquez.
Officers responded to reports of an armed man breaking into neighboring apartments and assaulting residents in the 1000 block of Glade Lane. When they arrived, Vasquez barricaded himself in the apartment and broke out the windows, according to a news release.
Eyewitness reports said the incident escalated from a domestic dispute and ended with multiple officers firing their weapons at the man.
The officer-involved shooting is under investigation by the San Juan County Regional Officer Involved Shooting Task Force, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Farmington Police Department.
“The man eventually tossed a gun and magazine out of one of the broken windows and started to pour gasoline over himself and the inside of the apartment,” Nicole Brown, spokeswoman for the police department, wrote in a statement.
According to the police department, police continued to negotiate with Vasquez while other officers evacuated neighboring apartments.
Vasquez left his apartment and threw a gas bottle at the officers and went back into his apartment, the release said.
When he left the apartment again, Vasquez wielded a Molotov cocktail and, as he threw it, officers fired at Vasquez, striking him, according to the release.
Officers “immediately rendered aid to the man and called for paramedics,” the release said.
Vasquez was taken to San Juan Regional Medical Center, where he was being treated. Brown said Friday that Vasquez is in stable condition.
No other injuries were reported.
The Farmington Fire Department was also called to eliminate fire hazards that occurred during the incident.
The case remains under investigation. Anyone with information is asked to call the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office, which is the primary investigating agency, at (505) 334-6107.
mmitchell@durangoherald.com
