Authorities respond to alleged robbery, shooting and fire Monday evening

Story updated at 3:20 p.m.

LAS CRUCES – Crime and fire was the name of the game Monday evening, with the Las Cruces Police Department, SWAT Team and Fire Department responding to seperate incidents including an alleged armed robbery, an apartment fire and a shooting at the La Quinta Inn.

The SWAT Team was called out to a home on the 1130 block of Colorado Avenue after a person fled from an alleged robbery in the parking lot of Sprouts Farmer's Market on Lohman Avenue. Dan Trujillo, spokesperson for the LCPD and LCFD, said the robbery is said to have occurred around 4 p.m. Monday, June 29. Police were told a motorcyclist parked his bike on the west side of the store, then was approached by a four-door sedan. A man allegedly exited the vehicle, threatened the motorcyclist with a handgun and demanded the victim's backpack.

Police responded about an hour later to a call about an armed man in the 1130 block of Colorado Avenue. Descriptions of the man and a nearby vehicle matched those of the robbery suspect.

Dan Trujillo, spokesperson for LCPD and LCFD, said two people were barricaded in the home and were not responding to police requests to exit the building. After a warrant was obtained and several hours were spent trying to communicate with the man, the SWAT Team entered the building and found the two men hiding in a crawl space beneath the house. 

Darrion Jackson, who was booked into the Doña Ana County Detention Center early Tuesday morning, was arrested on the 1130 block of Colorado Avenue. He is charged with armed robbery and being held without bond, according to jail records. Trujillo said the second man found in the house has not been charged. The incident is under investigation.

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Apartment fire

Trujillo said firefighters from Las Cruces Fire Station Two responded to a fire reported at 8:17 p.m. Monday evening. The two-story E and H Properties apartment building at 810 Foster Road was evacuated. Trujillo said responding firefighters found one apartment on the lower floor fully engulfed by flames. The fire reportedly was contained primarily to the one apartment.

A resident of an adjoining apartment was treated for smoke inhalation and transported to Memorial Medical Center, according to Trujillo. The cause of the fire is still under investigation and damage estimates are not yet available.

Hotel shooting

Later in the evening, police responded to a reported shooting at the La Quinta Inn, 790 Avenida de Mesilla at around 9:30 p.m. Trujillo said a 35-year-old man was found at the hotel with at least one gun shot wound. He was transported to Mountainview Regional Medical Center for treatment in critical but stable condition. He said that while the incident was being investigated, a 32-year-old man arrived at Memorial Medical Center with a non-life-threatening gunshot wound.

Trujillo said police have reason to believe the incidents are related and the injuries to both men likely occurred in the same place. He said both men have been transported to University Medical Center in El Paso.

The incidents are under investigation. Police ask that anyone with information on this incident call police at (575) 526-0795.

Leah Romero is a fellow with the New Mexico Local News Fund and can be reached at lromero@lcsun-news.com or @rromero_leah on Twitter.