As San Juan County begins its investigation into the fatal shootings of two Farmington residents by U.S. Marshals on May 7, questions about the incident appear to be building on whether the marshals overstepped their policy about the use of deadly force.
Specifically, U.S. Marshals policy justifies the use of deadly force when the officer has a “reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”
It also states that deadly force “may not be used solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect.”
According to witnesses, Brandon Roe and Breanna Wilkerson were fatally shot while they attempted to drive away from the shooting scene. A news release from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office states the vehicle was moving toward law enforcement officers. Wilkerson was driving, and the vehicle also carried a puppy, which was fatally injured.
The marshals were attempting to serve a warrant in the area of Hubbard Road and Copper Avenue in Farmington, where they killed Roe, 37, and Wilkerson, 25.
Roe was wanted for failing to appear in court for 2022 charges of aggravated fleeing from a law enforcement officer, a fourth-degree felony. Additionally, there was a warrant for failure to comply for a 2022 charge of fourth-degree felony commercial burglary.
The Tri-City Record has requested public records about the case and communications between the U.S. Marshal’s Office and local law enforcement authorities.
The U.S. Marshals Service has been operating in the community for more than a decade, and in the past 10 years reportedly has shot and killed three individuals and a puppy within the Farmington city limits.
The U.S. Marshals Service in 2017 opened a regional office in Farmington. It houses the Southwest Investigative Fugitive Team and apprehends an average of 300 state and federal fugitives through the Four Corners region, according to published reports in the Federal Times.
“The marshals’ function throughout San Juan County and partner up with local agencies that have a significant case where we need help to arrest someone, and that’s really their mission, is to arrest people with warrants,” said Farmington Police Chief Steve Hebbe, adding “They’ve been very cooperative with us.”
“In this case, we were aware the marshals were going to be operating in Farmington,” Hebbe said. “The Sheriff’s Office had called and notified us that they were working on apprehending a suspect who had warrants and that they were, you know, doing some surveillance with the marshals.”
Hebbe said it is not unusual for other agencies to operate within the city.
“We have jurisdiction within the city of Farmington, but we do not have exclusive jurisdiction within the city,” Hebbe said, adding that U.S. Marshals and other federal law enforcement agencies, such as the FBI, the ATF and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement all have jurisdiction within city limits.
The San Juan County Sheriff’s Office and New Mexico State Police also have jurisdiction in the city, Hebbe said.
“Most of the time, we have a pretty good relationship, and we at least get the heads-up,” Hebbe said. “Certainly we want the heads-up, because if they get into something, like this incident, and then they're calling for us, and we didn't even know where they were or what was going on, you know, that's that kind of stress on the situation leads to bad outcomes.”
Hebbe said his police were aware there was U.S. Marshals activity, so when “things didn’t go well,” Farmington Police “officers responded, fast, to try and help out and knew where they were. So that's the value of the pre-communication.”
“We weren't surprised,” Hebbe said. “We knew what was going on. We knew where they were, and we were able to respond very quickly.”
The last time the U.S. Marshals killed someone in a shooting here was on March 12, 2014, when John Marszalek, 26, was in his vehicle reportedly ramming a Farmington Police car.
Marszalek reportedly led police on two car chases and was stabbing himself in the throat when an unidentified marshal shot and killed him after a police-issued stun gun reportedly failed to work.
The U.S. Marshals Service updated its use of deadly force policy on May 20, 2022. It begins with the statement, “It is the policy of the Department of Justice to value and preserve human life.”
It also states that deadly force may be used “when the officer has a reasonable belief that the subject of such force poses an imminent danger of death or serious physical injury to the officer or to another person.”
Deadly force “may not be used solely to prevent the escape of a fleeing suspect.”
More pertinent to the case of Roe and Wilkerson, the policy states that “firearms may not be discharged solely to disable moving vehicles. Specifically, firearms may not be discharged at a moving vehicle unless: (1) a person in the vehicle is threatening the officer or another person with deadly force by means other than the vehicle; or (2) the vehicle is operated in a manner that threatens to cause death or serious physical injury to the officer or others, and no other objectively reasonable means of defense appear to exist, which includes moving out of the path of the vehicle.”
Hebbe said the policy aligns with Farmington’s policy on the use of deadly force. The police policy states, “It needs to be there is a threat with the officers that warrants a deadly response.”
With a moving vehicle, shooting out the tires would not stop the vehicle from moving toward the officers, Hebbe said.
“Our officers fire to stop whatever threat it is they're dealing with,” Hebbe said, adding that officers also take into consideration whether an individual’s actions are putting others in danger as well.
Details about the investigation and shooting of Roe and Wilkerson largely remain out of the public eye.
The Tri-City Record on May 8 requested dash cam and lapel cam videos from the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office as well as photographs of the scene.
The Sheriff’s Office responded saying that more time was needed to process the request.
The Tri-City Record also requested from the U.S. Marshals Service the warrant or warrants issued Feb. 20 or after for the apprehension and detention of Roe. It also requested any correspondence and emails dated from Feb. 20 to May 9 sent to or from the office of the U.S. Marshals Service regarding the warrants, apprehension, detention and shooting deaths of Roe and Wilkerson.
The Department of Justice responded stating that the Tri-City Record needed permission from both Roe and Wilkerson to access the records, and that if the individuals were dead, a certificate of death must be provided.
However, on May 16, the department sent another letter, which stated that the request is “complex” and time would be needed to determine whether U.S. Marshals Service “possesses the records responsive to the request.”
A request for the same records was submitted to the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office. It too responded by saying more time was needed to process the request.
The documents could provide a timeline and show who was notified of the law enforcement activity before the May 7 shooting.
Hebbe added that the questions he would ask in a shooting are “Did they perceive a life threatening threat to them … and was that a realistic threat?”
In this case, the San Juan County Sheriff’s Office will be asking those questions as it leads the investigation into law enforcement-involved shooting the deaths of Roe and Wilkerson.
