By Ryan Boetel
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — The undercover officer who was shot by a lieutenant earlier this month broke his cover and revealed himself as a police officer to a drug trafficking suspect that had produced a pellet gun, which looked like a real firearm.
Albuquerque police Lt. Greg Brachle shot Detective Jacob Grant during an undercover operation near Central and Tramway on Jan. 9.
Grant is still in critical condition at University of New Mexico Hospital and has not been interviewed by investigators, but police released additional information about the case Tuesday.
Police spokeswoman Celina Espinoza said Grant broke his cover moments before the shooting.
“While working in an undercover capacity, the main reason an officer breaks cover is to protect themselves or the other officers involved,” she said. “This is a rare circumstance and investigators will not be able to confirm yet if this is why Detective Grant chose to break his cover.”
Grant was shot after he and another undercover officer attempted to buy $60 worth of methamphetamine from two suspects, Damian Bailey and Edmond Vester. When they were making the drug purchase, one of the suspects pulled out a pellet gun, according to police.
A picture of the gun provided by police shows that it is entirely black and doesn’t have an orange-colored tip, which is on most pellet guns.
“I would invite anybody to look at that in a high-stress situation and try to make the determination: Is that a pellet gun or is that a real gun,” Albuquerque Police Chief Gorden Eden said. “Sadly, we are seeing more and more people modify these weapons ... to make them look like real weapons.”
Espinoza said additional details of why Brachle opened fire are still under investigation.
She said Grant is in critical but stable condition and is improving every day.
Copyright 2015 the Albuquerque Journal