Police: Man says Madrid threatened to kill him

A man involved in Saturday’s early morning shooting death told police Fabian Madrid forced entry into his residence at 913 N. Ave. J, threatening to kill him before he fired two shots at him, according to a press release issued by the Portales Police Department.

An initial autopsy report states Madrid died from a single gunshot wound, according to the Tuesday news release.

Police spokesperson Sgt. Eric Muller said one gun was recovered at the crime scene, and it belonged to the man who said he did the shooting.

Muller said that through its investigation police determined Madrid was armed at the time of the shooting. He declined to elaborate more on Madrid being armed.

He also declined to identify the relationship between the men, citing an ongoing investigation. He did say the two were involved in an altercation prior to the shooting.

According to Tuesday’s press release:

• Police responded to 909 N. Ave. J. at 6:22 a.m. Saturday in reference to shots fired.

• Officers responding found Madrid in the front yard with a gunshot wound to his chest.

Calls logs showed police were dispatched to 914 N. Ave. J. about 4 a.m. Saturday regarding an altercation, but found only the caller at the residence upon arrival, Muller said. He said there was a report of an altercation between two men but would not elaborate.

The man believed to have shot Madrid is being held in the Roosevelt County jail on a parole violation, according to District Attorney Andrea Reeb.

Reeb said Monday her office is looking into whether the shooting may have been a case of self-defense.

Reeb said her office will probably not decide whether to file charges “until the ballistic and the crime lab reports come back.”

She said it could take a couple of months to get the reports back.

Reeb declined to comment further on the case, saying she doesn’t discuss specifics of a case until charges have been filed.

“Our policy is to let the local police department handle the release of information … because we do not want to hinder their investigation,” Reeb said.