PO Anthony Ferguson
Officer: Alamogordo Police Department, Police Officer Anthony Ferguson
Date: 7/16/2023 Location: Alamogordo, NM FACTORS (1,2,4,8,9,21)
Perpetrator(s) Involved: Dominic De La O
Criminal Activity History/Involved: Yes, in January 2022 De La O was arrested for aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer and DWI-drugs, and a year later in January 2023 he was arrested for negligent use of a firearm and resisting arrest. / Yes, De La O had multiple active warrants, illegally possessed a firearm, and was fleeing from the police.
Mental Illness: Yes, a judge released him from pretrial lockup “to seek mental health treatment.”
Substance Abuse History/Involved: Yes, De La O has prior drug related arrests. / Unknown.
Race/Sex/Age: Latino/Male/26
What prompted the initial contact with the killer? At around 2:20 a.m. on July 15, 2023, Alamogordo Police Officers observed a vehicle being driven by Dominic De La O without the headlights or taillights on so they activated their emergency lights to conduct a traffic stop.
Actions taken by subject toward police: De La O refused to pull over, drove off and ended up crashing into a light pole. When the officers caught up to the crash, De La O fled on foot, “pulled out a concealed sawed-off shotgun” and shot PO Anthony Ferguson in the face.
Reactions by the police: Another officer managed to shoot De La O in the leg and chased him to a residence where he put up a fight before being subdued by multiple offices and arrested. PO Ferguson was transported to a hospital where he died from his injuries the next day.
How murdered? PO Ferguson was shot while chasing a suspect fleeing from a traffic stop.
What could have been done differently for the officer to still be alive? The officers were doing their job and bravely pursued a fleeing criminal during the dark of night.
Would the officer have been justified in using deadly force before being murdered? Given they were running; the officers may not have seen De La O’s furtive movement to access the sawed-off shotgun – but if they did they would have been justified to use deadly force.
Outcome for the cop-killer: De La O was justifiably shot by another officer, arrested, treated for his injuries and faces numerous charges including first-degree murder and tampering with evidence.
Miscellaneous: This was an avoidable tragedy as De La O was arrested on a firearms charge earlier in the year and was in jail, but a judge let him out in June.
