A mentally ill and convicted homeless man killed a New Mexico police officer seconds before being fatally shot by a bystander, police said Tuesday.
Las Cruces Officer Jonah Hernandez, 35, was responding to a trespassing call at a store around 5 p.m. Sunday when he was attacked by repeat offender Armando Silva.
“When he arrived, Armando Silva immediately attacked him with a large kitchen knife,” Police Chief Jeremy Storey said. At a press conference.
“For no reason, Silva killed Officer Hernandez.”
Silva, 29, then directed his anger at a bystander who took the firearm from his car after witnessing an “unprovoked attack,” Storey said.
Witnesses fired at least one gunshot, killing Silva.
They then used Hernandez’s radio to call for help. The officer was taken to a nearby hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
Hernandez’s death is the first for a Las Cruces police officer.
According to the story, “Silva had a long history of violent crimes and mental illness.”
The homeless man’s criminal history includes a 2015 conviction for kidnapping and aggravated assault inflicting grievous bodily harm on a family member, resulting in a prison sentence. According to the story, Silva violated his probation multiple times and was sent back to prison in the following years.
Hernandez, a two-year veteran of the Las Cruces Police Department, graduated from the academy in June 2022 as the department’s largest graduating class.
He leaves behind his wife, Yesenia Lopez, and two sons, Sebastian Jonah, 10, and Joaquin Leonel, 2.
According to reports, Hernandez became the 14th police officer killed in the line of duty in the United States this year. Officer Down commemorative pageHowever, this was the first fatality in the 96-year history of the Las Cruces unit.
The department mourned Hernandez on Tuesday with a lengthy police escort that took him 76 miles to the slain officer’s home in El Paso.
“As a law enforcement agency, we are still trying to process the sudden and senseless death of one of our officers,” Storey said. “This is not something you practice or get used to.
“Officer Jonah Hernandez is a caring and dedicated officer who was out working while most of us were watching the Super Bowl. Jonah was in contact with the subject of a trespassing call. This sudden and unprovoked attack claimed the life of an officer, a husband, a father, a brother, a son, a friend, and a great young man.”
Police do not plan to recommend charges against the witness, who has not been identified, in the Silva shooting.
