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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 on the night of June 5.

The men were seen brandishing a firearm at the Redwood Lodge Motel in Gallup and police were called.

When they arrived at the scene, their unit was nearly struck as the truck drove around their car onto NM State Road 118 and a pursuit ensued.

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 chase.

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 Commercial Motor Vehicle 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 CMV were not injured. They will not be identified by NMSP.

The identification of the suspects and officers involved in the incident will not be released at this time. No officers were injured.

The NMSP investigations bureau was asked to investigate.

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