Shooter at large after fight at AF housing area
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. -- An extensive search of a housing area just outside Kirtland Air Force Base failed to turn up any sign of suspects who reportedly shot and wounded an Air Force security officer early Thursday, Albuquerque police said.
The unidentified Air Force airman was not seriously injured in the shooting just before 1 a.m. Thursday, police spokesman officer Robert Gibbs said.
The airman told investigators he was patrolling the Maxwell housing area near the base when he spotted four men, three dressed in black and one wearing a red hooded sweat shirt, Gibbs said. There was an altercation and the security officer said one of the suspects was able to grab the officer's gun and shoot him with it.
The officer was hit in the lower abdomen just below his bullet-proof vest, but the bullet went through-and-through and he was "doing fine" after the shooting. He was hospitalized in stable condition.
The gun was left behind, Gibbs said. The officer told investigators the suspects ran away after the shooting.
The call from the officer that he had been shot led to a massive response from Albuquerque police and base security.
No witnesses could be found who saw any suspects in the area either before or after the shooting, Gibbs said.
The housing area was formerly part of the base and remains federal property, although it is in the city police's jurisdiction. Autos heading in the area require clearance because one building remains under Air Force control.
A spokeswoman for Kirtland, Marie Vanover, said she had little information on the shooting except that the airman was hit by an unknown assailant.
