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Two men dead after police pursuit

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Two men in a Dodge truck with a firearm died in a crash after being pursued by New Mexico State Police and Gallup police at 11:55 pm June 5.

Law enforcement was alerted by a call that the men were seen with a firearm at the Redwood Lodge Motel in Gallup.

When police got to the parking lot of the motel, the driver of the truck was circling the lot and nearly hit their car. Then the truck turned onto N.M. State Road 118 and a chase began.

As the police got closer to the truck, the driver turned the headlights on and off and steered the Dodge into traffic coming toward it. Then the Dodge entered Interstate 40, going eastbound at mile marker 16.

The passenger began throwing objects at officers from the bed of the truck.

Around mile marker 22, the driver of the truck crossed the median and started traveling eastbound in the westbound lanes. That was where the Gallup police supervisor ended the pursuit.

A New Mexico State Police sergeant who parked in the median of Interstate 40, near mile marker 26, saw the truck and fired at least one shot at it.

The Dodge continued its journey going the wrong way in the westbound lanes of Interstate 40 until it struck a semi-tractor-trailer head-on.

The driver and passenger of the Dodge truck were ejected and pronounced dead on the scene by the Office of the Medical Investigator.

The driver and passenger of the semi were not hurt. No officers were injured.

NMSP will not identify the people in the semi and the suspects and officers involved in the incident will not be released at this time.

The NMSP investigations bureau was asked to investigate.

This information is preliminary and the investigation is still active and ongoing.

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