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Officer Involved Shooting in Hobbs Leaves Two Wounded

New Mexico State Police are investigating an officer involved shooting after an altercation outside of a bar in Hobbs caused a police officer to open fire, injuring two people.
Zora Asberry
NewsWest 9

HOBBS, N.M. - New Mexico State Police are investigating an officer involved shooting after an altercation outside of a bar in Hobbs caused a police officer to open fire, injuring two people.

The shooting happened at Diamond Lil's Lounge involving one Hobbs Police Officer and two others. Those two individuals are now at a hospital in Lubbock with gunshot wounds.

Bouncer, Lonnie Cox, said, "About ten minutes til two, I was told shots were fired so I went outside and got my employees and made sure all employees were in. Then I brought the people that were on the porch  in and made sure they were safe and all that. I shut the doors and the officer told everybody to stay inside."

The Hobbs Police Department received a fight in progress call and quickly arrived at the club located in the 2600 block of Del Paso Street. Soon after police arrived at the scene, shots were fired.

"We were leaving and pretty much all hell broke loose. There's gunshots fired, the police came and they fired some gunshots. Two people are in the hospital, one of them is my buddy," Nathan Medellin, who was at the bar at the time of the shooting, said.

The two wounded were immediately transported by helicopter to University Medical Hospital in Lubbock with gunshot wounds.

"They had to airlift him to Lubbock, I can't say who shot him or what but they airlifted him to Lubbock last night," Medellin said.

The head bouncer of Diamond's Lil's says that events like this don't happen often.

"We hardly ever have this right here. We make sure everyone's safe in Diamond's, that's our main thing, we try to make sure everybody's safe," Cox said.

Officials spent the day interviewing people who may have witnessed the shooting including all employees, but who shot first is still unclear and not much can be determined at this time.

"It's just, you never know what can happen and it can change in a matter of seconds. That's all I can say about that," Medellin said.

The case is currently being investigated by New Mexico State Police.

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