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NM Officer Shot and Killed at Traffic Stop, 3 Suspects in Custody

Three suspects were in custody Saturday after investigators said one of them shot a New Mexico police officer in the neck during a Friday afternoon traffic stop, killing him, before trying to speed away.

August 13, 2016

Three suspects were in custody Saturday after investigators said one of them shot a New Mexico police officer in the neck during a Friday afternoon traffic stop, killing him, before trying to speed away.

Two of the suspects have criminal records and were wanted for murder in a shooting last month that killed a 62-year-old man in Ohio,  The Chillicothe Gazette reported .  

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After Friday's shooting, crews airlifted Hatch, N.M. Police Officer Jose Chavez to a hospital in El Paso, Texas where he died, according to officials.

The officer had just arrived at the traffic stop in Dona Ana County Friday afternoon when a passenger got out of the vehicle and fired shots, police said.

The three suspects, all men, sped off in a car at speeds topping 100 miles per hour, county sheriff's officials said. 

They got off I-25 at a rest stop and carjacked a Chevrolet Cruze, shooting the driver, Dona Ana County Sheriff’s spokesperson Kelly Jameson told Fox News .

More law enforcement officers joined the pursuit, deploying a device to deflate the car's tires. The chase finally ended at a home near I-85 when the driver crashed into a pile of wood,  KFOX 14 reported . One of the suspects reportedly was shot in the leg.

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