Documents reveal new details in deadly shooting of Roosevelt County man
New details have been released following a shooting in Roosevelt County that left one man dead Tuesday night.
ROOSEVELT COUNTY, N.M. (KFDA) – New details have been released following a shooting in Roosevelt County that left one man dead Tuesday night.
According to Roosevelt County court documents, the Roosevelt County deputies responded to the area of 1200 NM 236 for a Red Toyota Rav4 parked or wrecked in the roadway.
The caller said the driver was unresponsive and had what appeared to be a bullet hole in the driver’s side door.
Documents state when deputies arrived on scene, they found an unresponsive man in the front driver seat with his foot on the brake with the car still running and in drive.
The man was pronounced dead and had suffered at least one gunshot wound to the head.
Court documents show deputies found five spent shell casings just outside the driver’s side door.
When a search warrant was obtained, the victim was identified as Jaime Portillo.
It was also then discovered that Portillo had suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head.
The car also appeared to have been in an accident with damage to the front left headlight area and quarter panel.
The Major Crime Unit was activated to assist in the investigation.
Documents show investigators found pieces of a taillight where the car was located, leading to investigators to believe an accident took place shortly before the shooting took place.
Investigators also found light-colored paint on Portillo’s car.
Documents show attempts were made to find any surveillance videos from homes in the area.
One home had two cameras covering the roadway and another that showed the intersection of NM 236 and South Roosevelt Road X.
Records show a gold Toyota Corolla sedan, identified as the suspect’s car, approaching the intersection from the north with a blinker on to turn east.
That is when video shows Portillo’s car driving west when the suspect’s car immediately changes directions to follow the victim.
More camera footage shows at 5:13 p.m., the sedan began speeding after Portillo’s car with it beginning to break.
Another angle shows the sedan speeding by again at 5:16 p.m., with the rear bumper dragging behind it.
Documents state this indicates the murder took place only 3 minutes from when the suspect initially saw the victim, followed him, shot him and then fled the area.
According to court documents, investigators found out Portillo works for a calf ranch in the area.
Investigators called the foreman of the ranch who said the gold Corolla was driven by another employee there by the name of Omar Santos.
The foreman told deputies Santos was at work that day and was off around the time of the shooting.
Documents state investigators spoke with residents of an address linked to Santos, which was determined to be Portillo’s uncle and the suspect was his brother-in-law.
The uncle was interviewed at the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office and informed investigators that Portillo and Santos were in a fight months earlier.
Documents state the uncle said Santos had a short temper and would not let the incident go.
He also stated that the two did not get along at work when they were coworkers.
Investigators determined the motive was from the previous altercation where the suspect couldn’t let the incident go.
Based on the evidence and testimony, Santos is charged with first-degree murder and aggravated battery with deadly weapon after using his car to hit Portillo’s car forcing him to stop.
Santos was arrested by multiple authorities Wednesday in Farwell, Texas.
Santos is currently being held at the Parmer County jail.
Copyright 2026 KFDA. All rights reserved.
Intense bodycam video shows officer shoot, kill shooting suspect after high-speed chase
This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.
ESCONDIDO, Calif. – Escondido police Friday released a video briefing including body-worn camera footage of an officer pursuing and fatally shooting an armed suspect who was accused of opening fire on another motorist earlier in the same day.
The video details the graphic moments of the Sept. 17 encounter when Officer Chandler Hoppal fired 12 rounds at Escondido resident Jonathan Charles Carroll following a high-speed pursuit that ended when Carroll crashed his vehicle near the intersection of Bear Valley Parkway and Encino Drive. It can be viewed in its entirety here.San Diego International Airport expansion to create new terminal, thousands of jobs
Police allege Carroll, 38, exited his vehicle with a handgun pointed at Hoppal. Hoppal fires his weapon four times, then Carroll fires one round. The rapid exchange of gunfire continues as Hoppal fires a fifth round before Carroll fires his weapon a second and final time. Hoppal then fires seven more rounds.
Footage released by the department shows Carroll collapse into the roadway with his driver’s side door still ajar. The exchange began less than four seconds after the conclusion of the chase.
According to police, Carroll was struck in the head, abdomen and upper left arm. He was pronounced dead at Palomar Medical Center a short while after the shooting. Hoppal was not injured in the exchange.
“Jonathan Carroll not only confronted Officer Hoppal with a loaded handgun, but fired that weapon,” Escondido police Chief Ed Varso said in the released video. “We later discovered Carroll’s vehicle contained an additional handgun, an AR-15 and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.”
Varso added, “One of our most fundamental obligations is to stand between members of our community and those who intend to harm them. Officer Hoppal did just that and I have little doubt he prevented further harm to innocent members of our community.”
About 90 minutes prior to the fatal shooting, Carroll – who was driving a white Mercedes SUV – was accused of shooting and wounding a motorist near a Walmart store at 1330 E. Grand Ave. Authorities say a bullet fired by Carroll pierced another vehicle’s car door and hit the driver in the back. The driver, who wasn’t identified by police, drove himself to the hospital for treatment and was released.
No known connection exists between the driver and Carroll and a motive has not been determined, police said.
Officers then spotted Carroll’s SUV about 6:12 p.m. near what they said was the registered owner’s address, leading to a police pursuit that spanned a roughly six-mile route.
Body-worn camera footage from Hoppal captures a portion of the pursuit. In it, Hoppal can be heard speaking to a dispatcher to report that Carroll was at one point driving in excess of 100 mph. Video inside the police vehicle shows the chase end with Hoppal hitting a curb, which flattened two of the vehicle’s tires.
He exits the cruiser speaking to his radio: “TC at Encino. My vehicle is 10-7.”
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It’s at that moment when gunfire erupts. Carroll’s door opens and within seconds Hoppal begins firing with one pop after another all captured by the footage.
When it ends, Hoppal can be heard taking a hard breath before reporting in: “Shots fired. Code three cover. S1 is down. I am code four at Encino and Bear Valley. Suspect is down. Start medics. He was armed with a handgun.”
Then comes the wails of sirens while Hoppal appears to reload. Other officers then arrive at the scene with one shouting to Carroll: “Don’t you f—— move.”
Another officer approaches Hoppal and asks if he’s “good.”
“Yeah,” Hoppal replies. “Holy f—— s—.”
The department’s video notes that Hoppal was moved from the immediate area of the shooting after that. Other angles of officers on the scene contains a heavy blur of Carroll and his vehicle as streaks of blood are visible on the street as authorities approach.
“The gun is right under him,” one officer says.
“Just get the gun out and leave him,” another officer replies. “He’s dead.”
The firearm recovered from Carroll was an unserialized 9 mm semi-automatic handgun, also known as a “ghost gun.” Two more unserialized guns were located in the car, police said.
It draws parallels with footage released Thursday by San Diego police of a similar exchange between a suspect who they say fired at least one shot at them in a pursuit in the Chollas Creek area. An unregistered “ghost gun” was recovered in that case as well.
Varso said a “detailed investigative process” was launched immediately following the fatal police shooting.Newsom signs bill allowing businesses to offer to-go cocktails until 2026
“An investigation is currently being conducted by the Escondido Police Department Crimes of Violence Unit,” Varso said. “The investigative process includes an independent review by the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI to determine if the officer’s actions are reasonable under the law.”
Reviews of the legality of the shooting by the District Attorney’s Office typically take 180 days, Varso said.
Austin officer disciplined after unauthorized high-speed maneuver during police chase
An internal investigation found the officer used a high-speed tactic without approval during a June chase.
An Austin police officer was suspended for one day after an internal investigation found he violated department policy by conducting a high-speed maneuver to immobilize a vehicle without supervisor approval.
According to a Jan. 15 memorandum from Austin Police Chief Lisa Davis, the disciplinary action stems from a June 20, 2025, incident in which Officer Mason Brown said he witnessed what he believed to be a drive-by shooting from a moving vehicle in East Austin. Brown pursued the vehicle for about 14 minutes over roughly 23 miles, then executed a precision immobilization technique maneuver at nearly 90 mph, despite supervisors denying authorization for a high-speed PIT and instructing him to slow below policy limits.
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According to the U.S. Department of Justice, a PIT maneuver is “a technique used by law enforcement personnel to force a fleeing vehicle to abruptly turn 180 degrees, causing the vehicle to stall and stop.”
Department policy generally prohibits PIT maneuvers above 40 mph without explicit supervisor authorization.
“Brown requested to conduct a high-speed PIT that was denied by the control supervisor Sgt. Hutchins,” the original complaint against Brown read. “Brown later stated that he was going to attempt to PIT after the speed was reported to be 70 mph. The new control supervisor, Sgt. Paredes, told Brown that he would need to slow down, below 40mph. Brown then conducted a PIT at 87 mph. Officer Brown, by his actions, may have violated APD General Orders.”
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Internal Affairs determined Brown did not receive approval to perform the maneuver at that speed and acknowledged during the investigation that he knew he was exceeding policy limits at the time.
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Brown disputed that he violated policy, arguing exigent circumstances and public safety concerns justified his actions.
“I considered the risk and this suspect’s risk to the public far outweighed the risk of conducting the PIT,” Brown said in the memo. “This is not normal circumstances, to be clear. This is a violent act of felony offense in my presence in front of a police officer in a fully marked police car.”
According to the memorandum, the incident began around 2:30 a.m. June 20 when Brown was driving east on Rosewood Avenue. The memo states he observed a black sedan run a stop sign at Thompson Street and then again at Bedford Street.
As Brown prepared to initiate a traffic stop, he reported seeing a gun fired multiple times from the passenger-side window of the vehicle toward a nearby apartment complex, the memo said. Brown later told investigators he could not determine whether the shots were aimed at a specific person but believed the residences were occupied due to the time of night.
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Brown reported the shooting to dispatch and activated his lights and siren, but the vehicle did not stop, the memo said. A pursuit followed, with Brown asking other officers to check on possible victims while he continued chasing the suspect vehicle.
During the chase, Brown requested permission to conduct a high-speed PIT maneuver. That request was denied by a supervising sergeant, and Brown was later instructed by another supervisor to slow the pursuit below 40 mph — the department’s general speed threshold for PIT maneuvers without special authorization.
Despite those instructions, Brown executed a PIT maneuver at approximately 87 mph. The driver of the vehicle fled on foot, while the passenger — identified as the suspected shooter — remained at the scene and was taken into custody.
Brown argued that the circumstances justified immediate action and that continuing the pursuit would likely have put others in danger.
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In deciding discipline, Davis cited the risks posed by the maneuver and Brown’s lack of acceptance of responsibility. Davis also considered Brown’s prior disciplinary history, which included earlier incidents in 2023 involving similar high-speed PIT maneuvers that posed risks to him and other drivers.
The suspension took place Jan. 16, and Brown retains the right to appeal under Texas civil service and union contract provisions.
