New Mexico State Police Officer Justin Hare was slain March 15, 2024, after stopping to aid a stranded driver.New Mexico State Police
New Mexico State Police Chief Troy Weisler said in a press conference Saturday that the killing of NMSP Officer Justin Hare on Friday was “cold blooded.”
At around 5 a.m. Officer Hare had been dispatched to aid a stranded motorist on Interstate 40 near Tucumcari. There had been reports of a man driving a white BMW who was trying to wave down passing motorists for aid.
Hare arrived at the scene, saw the stranded vehicle, noted it had a flat tire, and parked his patrol vehicle behind it.
Police say the man, later identified as Jeremy Smith of Marion, South Carolina, got out of his vehicle, walked back to the cruiser, and spoke with the officer through the open passenger window about how he could get his tire fixed.
Officer Hare offered to give him a ride into town. That’s when state police say Smith shot him.
Smith then reportedly walked around to the driver side of the cruiser and shot Officer Hare again. He pushed the badly wounded officer into the passenger seat, and drove off in the patrol vehicle, police say.
When dispatch could not contact Officer Hare, a second officer was sent to the scene.
As the second officer was driving to the scene, dispatch notified him that Officer Hare’s duress signal had been activated. And he saw Officer Hare’s patrol vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on the frontage road that parallels the interstate.
The responding officer took the next exit, got on the frontage road, and pursued the patrol vehicle. He found it crashed on the side of the road. No one was inside.
Officer Hare was found about eight miles away on the frontage road. He was grievously wounded and was transported by ambulance to a local hospital. He was pronounced dead at 7:31 a.m.
Suspect Jeremy Smith became the subject of a manhunt. He was captured in Albuquerque Sunday. He is also wanted in South Carolina as a person of interest in a murder.
Officer Hare is survived by his girlfriend and two children. He was 35 years old.
“The last words Officer Hare uttered on this earth was to offer help to the man who was about to kill him,” NMSP Chief Troy Weisler said at a press conference Saturday.
A GoFundMe account has been set up for Officer Hare’s family.
