VIDEO: Real Time Crime Center cameras track man shooting gun on Central

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – He wasn’t supposed to have guns but a ‘Red Flag’ Extreme Risk Firearms Protection Order didn’t stop an Albuquerque man from shooting a pistol in the air right along Central Avenue. Now, KRQE News 13 is getting a better look at how police caught up with the shooter as 911 calls came pouring in.

Real Time Crime Center video showed how police tracked William Ortiz’s movements before they moved in to arrest him.

“911, emergency.”
“Uh, yes, I’m calling to report somebody walking up and down Juan Tabo [Boulevard] firing a gun up into the air.”

On November 30, shortly after 8:00 p.m.:

“911, what’s your emergency?”
“Yeah, I’m uh driving northbound on Juan Tabo between Central and the freeway and I-40 there was a gentleman walking southbound on the sidewalk and had a, what looked to be a pistol in his hand and fired four shots into the air.”

911 calls came flooding in about the man seen in the video, later identified as 25-year-old William Ortiz .

“Right in front of the car wash there’s a guy with a gun shooting the gun. He shot it like three times, I don’t know if he shot it, I couldn’t tell if he shot it like in a direction or if he shot it up in the air or shot it at something or somebody but he was just walking on Juan Tabo.”

For roughly 15 minutes, police tracked Ortiz’s movements from the Real Time Crime Center starting on Juan Tabo before heading east on Central. Cameras monitored as Ortiz at times ran, seemed to sway or dance and fired a gun into the air.

“What’s a description of him?”
“I’d say Hispanic male, mustache, looked like he had maybe a black sweater or a black hoodie on.”

9-1-1 callers told dispatch they saw him shoot into the air between three and four times.
“I saw the flash coming out of the pistol and everything…I was right next to him when he shot it in the air, scared the crap out of me.”

Police eventually pulled up next to him; body camera video KRQE News 13 obtained in December showed officers arresting him. Ortiz told officers on camera he also had a knife, baton, and pepper spray on him and was wearing body armor.

At the time of the arrest, Ortiz had a Red Flag order placed against him the month prior—meaning he was not supposed to have any guns. Several New Mexico law enforcement agencies are pushing to strengthen the state’s Red Flag law, and lawmakers are expected to look at the topic in the next 60-day session.

Ortiz pled guilty to battery upon a peace officer while a gun charge was dropped as part of that plea. He served four months in the Metropolitan Detention Center (MDC) and was released in March. He is currently on probation.

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