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By Gabrielle Porter
The Santa Fe New Mexican
QUAy COUNTY, N.M. — Responding to calls from stranded drivers with broken-down cars is a regular feature of the job for New Mexico State Police.
But Officer Justin Hare, who was shot and killed while on duty Friday morning, was known for taking that task to the next level.
“If he saw a car or a pickup on the side of the highway, he was always stopping to try to help them,” said Jason Goen , a Tucumcari mechanic and tow truck driver who regularly worked alongside Hare for years. “When you call out road service it’s kind of expensive, and he would help people, you know, try to help save them money and save them time. … He was just a stand-up guy.”
Hare, 35, was responding to a call on Interstate 40 west of Tucumcari early Friday morning when he was fatally shot.
The circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear.
State police released video images of the man suspected in the shooting, who fled the scene, and were asking for the public’s help gathering information about the incident.
State police officials indicated in a post on X, the social medial site previously known as Twitter, the suspect was “last seen wearing a brown hoodie and jacket.” He is considered armed and dangerous, and state police are urging anyone who sees him not to approach him but to call 911 immediately. Several agencies were searching for him late Friday.
In an email, the agency said the suspect was “last seen on foot” on the frontage road that runs along I-40 at milepost 304 between Montoya and Newkirk.
Goen, 44, said it’s a desolate area, with plenty of mesquite and rattlesnakes.
“There’s nothing out there,” he said. “It’s a very barren stretch of land. … You’d have to be a heck of a Boy Scout to survive in that environment.”
Goen, who works for Jack’s Truck Repair and 4J’s Towing & Recovery Services in Tucumcari , said Hare was an all-around hardworking patrolman — in addition to breaking out his own electric impact wrench or getting down on the ground to help drivers change their tires.
“Every time we had a semitruck wreck he would be out there. He would be the last state police officer to leave the scene,” Goen said. “He was down there as long as he could, helping direct traffic so that we would be safe doing our job.”
Goen said Hare was from the Logan area and was a fixture in the community — showing up to cookouts at the tow truck shop and sometimes taking oranges or other fruit from overturned semis to kids playing sports at schools.
“It’s a shock to our community for sure,” he said of Hare’s death.
The Logan Police Department posted on Facebook that Hare was “long-time member of the Logan community and will be greatly missed but never forgotten. … “Hare, may you rest in peace, Sir. We have the watch from here.”
Curt Miller , pastor of East Mountain Cowboy Church in Edgewood , where Hare’s parents, Jim and Terri Hare , attend, said the family is in shock but “handling it the best they can.”
Miller said he met Hare only a couple of times at various events but Hare and his brother take after their parents.
“They’re just salt of the rock people,” Miller said, adding Jim and Terri Hare are involved in their community, including Jim Hare’s work last year helping organize the church’s six months of kids’ rodeos as a volunteer.
Miller said while Edgewood and Logan are miles apart, his congregation is in mourning as well.
“Jim and Terri are just like our family,” he said. “There’s several hundred people plus that have been on their knees today praying for Jim and Terri and their family.”
Public Safety Cabinet Secretary Jason Bowie was one of many state officials who offered condolences to Hare’s family and friends Friday.
“This is shocking news to everyone who knew and worked with Officer Hare,” Bowie said in a statement, calling his death “a sacrifice no one should have to make.”
“Officer Hare will never be forgotten, and his sacrifice safeguarding our state is worthy of the highest honors,” Bowie said.
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said she was heartbroken by news of Hare’s death in the line of duty.
“It’s a tragic reminder of the dangers our law enforcement officers face each time they put on a uniform and report for duty,” she said in a statement.
Former Gov. Susana Martinez wrote in a post on X, “I am deeply saddened to hear about the loss of a brave New Mexico state police officer who was killed this morning while serving and protecting our community. My prayers go out to the family and colleagues of this selfless hero.”
State police are asking anyone with information about the incident to call the agency. The number for the Tucumcari office is 575-461-3300.
The deadly incident comes two days after the agency issued a report on the death of state police Officer Darian Jarrott in February 2021 during an undercover operation in Southern New Mexico.
The report, which found flawed tactics and poor communications during the incident, resulted in several internal policy changes, the agency said.
Before Hare’s death, Jarrott was the last New Mexico State Police officer slain in the line of duty.
A Santa Fe officer was injured in a shooting during a police operation Sunday, but authorities haven’t said he was shot by either of two suspects involved in the incident — one of whom sustained a fatal gunshot wound — raising questions about whether he was struck by friendly fire.
In February, a Las Cruces police officer was fatally stabbed by a suspect who was then shot with the officer’s gun by a witness, authorities said.
KOAT-TV reported Hare was doing a welfare check on the interstate after spotting a vehicle pulled over onto the shoulder of the traffic lanes before the shooting occurred.
Goen said Hare’s death has rattled him and his colleagues not just because they knew him, but because they’re often in a similar situation.
“We’re out there all hours of the day, all hours of the night,” he said. “This is really gonna be stuck in my mind from now on, that people out on these roads at night, especially, are they gonna try to harm you because you’re coming up to help them?”
Miller said Hare’s death is an indication “we’re living in crazy times.”
“People need to wake up and do a better job respecting and thanking our law enforcement,” he said.
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