The Associated Press
CARLSBAD, N.M. (AP) -- A shootout between Carlsbad police and a man who led them on a high-speed chase left the man dead and two officers wounded.
Officer Susan Kym Redman, a 13-year veteran, and Officer Eric Jameson, who has been with the department for two years, suffered multiple gunshot wounds in Thursday night’s confrontation, police said Friday.
Redman was in critical condition and Jameson was listed in stable condition Saturday, Sgt. Earl Jones said.
The dead man was identified as Thomas Michael Cook, 36, of Carlsbad.
State police are investigating, state police Lt. Robert San Roman said.
Cook’s childhood friend and roommate for the last month said Cook wanted the officers to kill him.
“For the past couple of days, Thomas kept asking me that if something should happen to him, would I take care of the things that needed to be taken care of,” Harvey Elizondo said. “I didn’t know what he was getting at then, but now it is all clear. I think he was planning to do this -- have the cops kill him.”
Cook grew up in Carlsbad but had moved to Dallas. He returned to Carlsbad a month ago in a rental car from the Dallas-area, Elizondo said. The car had been reported stolen.
A bullet-proof vest probably saved Jameson’s life during the shootout, Carlsbad Police Chief Connie Mack Riley said.
“One of the bullets from the .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun used by the suspect hit officer Jameson dead center in the chest,” Riley said. “Had he not been wearing the vest, he could be dead today.”
The automobile chase began after police were sent to a neighborhood shortly before 10:20 p.m. Thursday about a suspicious person and vehicle in the area, police said.
When Redman tried to stop the vehicle, the driver sped away. The pursuit ended near the city’s Riverwalk Recreation Center, where a patrol car driven by Jameson and Cook’s vehicle collided, Carlsbad police said.
The shootout occurred when the pursuit stopped, San Roman said.
Both officers were shot several times with bullets from Cook’s handgun, and Cook was hit by their return fire, police said. He died about 1:45 a.m. at Carlsbad Medical Center.
Both officers were airlifted to Lubbock hospitals, where they underwent surgery Friday, said Lt. Jim Boutelle of the Carlsbad Police Department.