The Albuquerque Journal is reporting that Justin Schroer, director of development for the UNM Cancer Center, was shot once around 6 a.m. while he was jogging through a neighborhood near Constitution and Girard NE, according to police.
APD spokesman said police have few if any leads at this time, other than information that the alleged shooter is likely in his 30s, was wearing a hat and was driving a white pickup truck at the time he shot Schroer.
Schroer, 35, is expected to survive, Gibbs said. One bullet struck him in the left side of the abdomen and passed through his right side.
The shooting took place on Summit Place NE, in a neighborhood that teems with children playing on sidewalks, in front yards and in a nearby park.
Chris Plaman, a University of New Mexico medical student who was in the area and rendered aid to the man, spent Tuesday night with his girlfriend in the neighborhood. The couple were startled awake “by loud banging” around 6 a.m., Plaman told ABQJournal.com in an interview.
“We heard someone yell: ‘Oh my god,’ and we just looked at each other, startled,” he said. “So I put on my shoes and walked outside, where I saw a gentleman lying on the sidewalk, holding his left side.”
Plaman and another UNM medical student, having recently completed a class in emergency aid, helped Schroer by compressing the wound and encouraging him to breathe and relax.
Schroer told Plaman he had been jogging when the white truck slowed down and the shooting occurred.
Several residents called 911, Plaman said, and others brought towels to the area where the medical students were assisting Plaman.
Police and an ambulance arrived within minutes, he said, and Schroer was taken to a hospital.
Plaman said multiple shots were fired; at least one struck a parked vehicle, and others may have struck a home in the neighborhood.
Gibbs said he could not confirm how many shots were fired.
Detectives don’t yet know what motivated the shooting, he said.
“If it turns out to be random, then it’s random,” Gibbs said. “And if he was targeted, we’ll proceed from there. All of that will be part of the investigation. He was a career guy, it sounds like, so it’s definitely unusual.”
Plaman said most people who frequent and live in the neighborhood consider it safe.
“It’s a really tight-knit community,” he said. “People are always on the lookout for each other, for anything unusual. And there are a lot of kids there. It’s just really scary.”
ABQJournal.com will update this story as more details become available.
According to UNM officials, Schroer was born in the midwest and grew up in Albuquerque. He graduated from the UNM Communication and Journalism program in 2002.
Schroer moved back to Albuquerque from Fresno, Calif., last month to take the job with the Cancer Center, university officials said.
