By Elise Kaplan
Albuquerque Journal
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Albuquerque police Detective Jacob Grant is conscious but remains in critical condition after he was shot by another officer this month, according to the Albuquerque Police Department.
Officer Tanner Tixier, a spokesman for APD, said Monday that Grant was taken off the ventilator and is able to talk, but communication remains difficult.
Grant was shot multiple times by Lt. Greg Brachle while on an undercover mission to buy $60 worth of methamphetamine Jan. 9.
The suspected drug dealers, Damien Bailey (also known as Damian Bailey) and Edmond Vester, were charged with drug trafficking. Court records show the drug charges filed against them were dropped Jan. 20, although they could be refiled.
While Grant can now talk, Tixier said it will be some time before he can be interviewed about the incident.
Grant and another undercover officer, Holly Garcia, were in the car with the two suspects after buying methamphetamine. The car pulled into a McDonald’s parking lot near Tramway and Central just before noon that day, then something went wrong.
Police have said Grant revealed himself as a police officer during the undercover sting and that one of the men he was buying from had produced a pellet gun resembling a real firearm.
Police still haven’t said why Brachle fired his weapon but have said the plan for the sting changed significantly at the last minute.
Celina Espinoza, spokeswoman for APD, said undercover officers typically only identify themselves as officers when they or another officer could be harmed.
“This is a rare circumstance and investigators will not be able to confirm yet if (the pellet gun) is why Detective Grant chose to break his cover,” she said last week.
Copyright 2015 the Albuquerque Journal