Officer-involved shooting leaves 1 dead

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - An Albuquerque police officer shot and killed a man after a traffic stop Wednesday night.

The shooting happened around 8 p.m. at a shopping center near the intersection of San Pedro Drive SE and Kathryn Avenue after a routine traffic stop. According to police, the officer, Trey Economidy III, was a member of the Albuquerque Police gang unit and had pulled over the suspect in the parking lot of a grocery store.

Economidy chased the suspect, later identified as Jacob Mitschelen, 29, for a short amount of time after the traffic stop. During the foot chase, the suspect fell and then pointed a gun at the officer, police said.

Economidy called for the suspect to drop the gun and when he did not, the officer shot him multiple times, according to Albuquerque Police Chief Ray Schultz. A firearm was recovered at the scene and is believed to be the Mitschelen's.

Mitschelen was taken to UNM Hospital where he later died. His rap sheet includes multiple arrests on drug, domestic violence and DWI charges plus negligent use of a deadly weapon, according to court records.

Economidy has been placed on standard, paid administrative leave for three days pending investigation.

The last officer-involved shooting happened in October 2010. See an interactive timeline of all of the officer-involved shootings in 2010.