Police chief: 14 people arrested at S.F. home after shooting prompts SWAT response

Jan. 4—A SWAT team operation Saturday at a home on Camino del Bosque, prompted by a report of a man wounded by gunshot, led to the arrests of 14 people, including two juveniles.

Santa Fe police said in a news release Saturday evening a 32-year-old man had been admitted into Presbyterian Santa Fe Medical Center around 5 a.m. Saturday with a gunshot wound to the leg. Police questioned the man, whose injury was not life-threatening, and determined the shooting likely occurred in the 2800 block of Camino del Bosque.

Officers arrived at the site — in a neighborhood near the intersection of Rodeo and Zia roads and Camino Carlos Rey — around 5:45 a.m., according to residents, who noted they had been concerned for years about the possibility of criminal activity at the home.

Suspecting someone inside the home was armed, officers made announcements from the street for hours Saturday morning, asking those inside to exit, according to police and neighbors, but the occupants were unresponsive.

That’s when the situation escalated to a SWAT team response, Santa Fe police Chief Paul Joye said.

The police department said in the news release officers obtained a search warrant for the home and called in the SWAT team, which surrounded the property “and called out to the occupants of the residence over a public address system, instructing them to exit the residence.”

“After several hours of call outs, the occupants of the residence exited and were taken into custody,” the news release states, and police were able to execute the search warrant.

Officers wearing gas masks could be seen hauling a television into the back of a Crime Scene Unit vehicle after noon Saturday.

The incident led to the shutdown of Camino del Bosque from Camino Carlos Rey to Calle de Piñata, the city said in an early morning alert. It was opened up again before 4 p.m.

One of the 14 people arrested was a man identified as the primary suspect in the shooting. Joaquin Archuleta, 49, has been charged with aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, as well as resisting, evading or obstructing an officer, according to the news release.

Archuleta has a criminal history, the release states, including charges of drug possession and trafficking and battery against a family member.

Police did not name the other 13 suspects or provide information about the charges they face.

Earlier Saturday, police said 16 people were detained for questioning.

Joye said stolen vehicles had been recovered at the home in the last several weeks.

Neighbors said, however, they believe criminal activity has been going on at the house for much longer.

Joye declined to comment on allegations of other crimes at the house because, he said, they might be part of a pending investigation.

Donald Levering, who lives a few houses down from the crime scene, said neighbors had been calling attention to the house for years over concerns about potential crimes.

“It’s quite something, waking up and seeing the block filled up with all kinds of police,” said Jane Schoenfeld, who lives with Levering.

Neighbors reported multiple responders at the scene, including ambulances and firetrucks, as well as police.

Joye said emergency responders were called in as a SWAT staging precaution, but no one was injured in the operation.

Jo Watanabe, who owns a house on the street from the crime scene, said after the suspects were removed from the residence, they were sitting on the curb outside her home.

“We’re trying to start a family here,” Watanabe said. “We moved from Albuquerque to get away from this stuff, and there it was, in front of our house.”

Watanabe said he and other neighbors had called police about the home multiple times, believing it was “trap house,” with frequent traffic and “sketchy” activity.

“I just hope it’s not a catch-and-release,” Watanabe said. “This neighborhood can’t take more of this.”

EMEA Tribune is not involved in this news article, it is taken from our partners and or from the News Agencies. Copyright and Credit go to the News Agencies, email news@emeatribune.com Follow our WhatsApp verified Channel