Police officer killed in New Mexico shooting

A New Mexico State police officer was shot and killed and several other officers were injured in two shootings that happened as the police chased a pickup truck along Interstate 10 in south-western New Mexico, said the authorities, reported The New York Times.

"The police officer was killed in the first shooting on Interstate 10 near Akela, about 40 miles west of Las Cruces, NM", said Dan Trujillo, a spokesman for the Las Cruces Police Department.

"The white pickup truck then Dan Trujillo, a spokesman for the Las Cruces Police Department," said Trujillo.

The State Police confirmed in a statement that a suspect was dead and added that the "scene is still active with limited information." The interstate was closed, the police said.

The authorities did not identify the State Police officer or the suspect, reported The New York Times.

As per the spokesman Trujillo, the Las Cruces officer who was wounded had been taken to the hospital with injuries that were not life-threatening.

The Las Cruces Police Department confirmed that officers from several agencies were investigating an "incident involving shots fired" along the interstate. The department said that drivers should avoid the area and seek alternate routes until the investigation was complete, a process that could take hours, reported The New York Times.

It was the first fatal shooting of a New Mexico State Police officer in the line of duty since 1991, when Patrolman Glen Huber was killed while trying to serve a restraining order, according to the Officer Down Memorial Page, a non-profit that honours fallen law enforcement officers, reported The New York Times.

Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham of New Mexico said that flags in the state would be lowered to half-staff from Friday to Tuesday in honour of the State Police officer who was killed.

"I am shocked, heartbroken and enraged by the loss of this public servant," Grisham said. "I am praying for the local officer who was also shot and injured."

( With inputs from ANI )