Gallup police investigate vehicle shooting near East Highway 66

Gallup police were investigating a vehicle shooting that began near Flavors of the Middle East on East Highway 66 and ended with a suspect vehicle found on the west side of town at Walmart on Maloney Avenue.

Officers responded around 10 p.m. May 11 to the restaurant at 700 E. Highway 66 after the shooting was reported, then traced the vehicle to Walmart, 1650 W. Maloney Avenue, on May 12. Two people were apprehended in connection with the vehicle, and police impounded it as the investigation moved forward.

The case has immediate meaning for drivers, businesses and residents along one of Gallup’s most visible corridors. East Highway 66 carries steady traffic through commercial strips and neighborhood access points, and a shooting there raises the same basic question many locals ask after a gunfire call: was this a one-off incident tied to a specific dispute, or something that left the broader area exposed?

A later headline tied to the same case said a juvenile was shot in Gallup, indicating that a young victim was involved. The available information does not identify the juvenile, the two people apprehended, or any formal charges, but it does show police moved quickly between two widely separated parts of the city as they worked the case.

The Gallup Police Department is a relatively small agency by metropolitan standards, with 60 commissioned officers, 10 public service officers and 6 civilian employees, according to the city’s listing. Chief of Police Erin Toadlena-Pablo and Deputy Chief Billy Padavich lead the department, which is responsible for handling a mix of neighborhood calls, traffic corridors and violent-crime investigations across Gallup.

The May Highway 66 case also lands against the backdrop of another recent Gallup shooting investigation. In January, police investigated a shooting at 625 North 6th Street, where officers found one man with three gunshot wounds and another man later identified as the alleged suspect. Taken together, the two cases show Gallup police have been dealing with multiple shooting scenes in different parts of the city this year, from the downtown grid to the east-west highway corridor.

For McKinley County residents, the key issue is not just what happened at one restaurant parking area, but whether police can explain the chain of events quickly and clearly enough to tell the public if any continuing threat remains. The vehicle was recovered, two people were apprehended, and the investigation stayed centered on a specific stretch of Gallup, but the questions of motive, injury, and accountability remain central to understanding what this incident means for safety on Highway 66.